Half-Blood Care Home
by picturesonmypillow
Summary: Annabeth Chase is an orphan living at 'Half-Blood Care Home'. Years later a new kid, Percy Jackson, moves in. Annabeth hasn't spoken a word since her parents died. However, there is a possibility that the new kid will be able to convince Annabeth to break her silence.
1. The Care Home

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own 'Percy Jackson & the Olympians'. It completely belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

><p><strong>Half-Blood Care Home<strong>

**By**

**picturesonmypillow**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**Annabeth**

Why?

Why them and not me?

We had had a great day at the beach, laughing and chatting together... and then came the ride home.

The crash that killed both of my parents.****  
><strong>**

My whole life ruined in just a few minutes. Now I am an orphan. I'll never see or hear them again. The one day we spent together as a family, the day mum and dad decided to take time off work to spend the day with me. One day. Now I will never see them again.

"We're here," my social worker speaks, bringing me out of my thoughts. She places a gentle hand on my shoulder, and I flinch, still too jumpy to not react at the touch. She slowly pulls her hand away, not wanting to upset me further. She smiles gently at me, before she gets out of the car and walks around to my side to open the door for me. I wince as I attempt to get out of the vehicle without hitting my left arm, which had been put in a cast just a few hours ago.

She grabs my belongings for me, and then leads me towards the building. The house is beautiful with a large garden decorated with a variety of plants in all different sizes and colours. A pebble path lies in the centre of the garden, and leads to the entrance. A wooden sign sits above the door, the words 'Half-Blood Care Home' announcing to people in passing what the building is.

I must admit, it is not what I had expected. I was picturing a small building with broken windows, chipped paint and dead flowers sitting amongst the overgrown grass. I was expecting little children to be wearing rags, looking underfed and scared.

So far, my expectations have been wrong.

My social worker beckons for me to hurry once she has reached the door, and I quicken my pace until I am beside her.

"Are you ready for this?" she asks me.

_No_.

I don't reply.

She sighs, taking my lack of response as confirmation, and raises her hand to knock the door. Instantly, a loud commotion comes from behind the door. Shouts of 'I'll get it' and 'she's here' can be heard before the door swings open.

Several children stand before me, their eyes wide and excited, each of them asking me question after question. The attention is too much for me and I step away from the door, tucking my chin against my chest as my bottom lip trembles.

"Kids, not now. You'll get to ask questions later. Let Annabeth come in before you start torturing her," the social worker says and the children groan before they walk away.

I look up again, just as a man in a wheelchair comes to the door. He smiles at me, and I instantly notice the kindness in his eyes. I don't have to be afraid of him.

"I am Chiron, the head care worker here at Half-Blood Care Home. You must be Annabeth Chase." It's not a question, but I nod my head in confirmation anyway.

"Come on in," he says and moves to the right so I can enter the building. "We'll speak in my office." My social worker closes the door behind us and informs me that Chiron with provide me with information and rules I will need to know while I live here.

We follow Chiron into his office and he moves so he sits behind a wooden desk, while my social worker and I sit opposite him. He immediately starts talking. I watch him as he speaks, but it is like I am underwater. His voice seems faint and distant and I cannot fully process what he is saying. There are too many things occupying my mind right now.

He stops speaking after a while and looks at me expectantly. I realise he has asked a question and is waiting for my response. I blink and he smiles at me. "Do you have any questions?" he asks. I shake my head. "Anything I can do for you?"

_Bring my mum and dad back._

I shake my head again, before I quickly look away, not wanting him to notice the tears that threaten to fall.

"Very well," he says. "I'll give you a quick tour of the place and introduce you to everyone."

"This is where I must go," the social worker speaks. "I wish I could stay, but I have other children I need to check up on. I will be back soon."

I nod my head at this, but I am far from sad to see her go. I don't even remember her name.

She leaves and Chiron begins to show me around. The house is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. The ground floor holds a large kitchen, a dining room with a table big enough to sit twenty, a living room and Chiron's office. There are five bedrooms and three bathroom on the second and third floors. Chiron quickly explains that only males sleep on the second floor and females on the third.

"There are two to a room," Chiron tells me as we ride the elevator up to the third floor. "You are allowed to enter a bedroom of the opposite sex, but you must have assistance and you are not allowed to enter after 8 o'clock in the night."

The elevator doors open and he leads me down a corridor and stops at a door. "This will be your room. You will be sharing with Clarisse La Rue."

He opens the door but doesn't enter, instead tipping his head for me to enter first. The walls that surround me are light grey. One side of the room is spotless. The bed is made, there are no posters on the wall or dirty clothes strewn across the floor. However, on the other side of the room is an unmade bed, posters of various pop groups stuck to the wall, and clothes littering the ground. There are two desks on each side, along with two wardrobes for our belongings and two shelves for any photographs and books.

"Do you like it?" Chiron asks, once I have finished scanning the room with my curious eyes. I nod my head slightly, just enough to show that I do like the space.

"I'll leave you to settle in," he says. "I'll send someone up with your bags in a little while."

I wait until he closes the door before I move from my spot in the middle of the room. I walk over to my bed and take a seat on the soft mattress. I run my hand over the covers, before I let out a deep sigh.

I feel exhausted. It seems I haven't slept in what feels like forever. I slowly lay down, careful to keep my arm from bumping into anything.

I stare up at the ceiling once I am comfortable, my eyes blinded by tears. My right hand moves to the pocket of my jeans, pulling out a folded photograph. I manage to unfold it with one hand, and I blink back my tears before I look at the image. The picture of my mother and father smiling so happily as they look down at a baby me makes fresh tears fall.

It still hasn't sunk in that I will never see them again. I keep expecting to wake up, to realise this is a dream, that they are still alive, still here with me. Except that is not going to happen. I am stuck in a nightmare that will never end.


	2. New Kid

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Can I have some more?**

**Annabeth (Four Years Later)**

Someone is moving in today. It's been four years and I'm still the new kid. Four years and I haven't uttered a word- not in school, not at home. I know I can speak if I tried, I just choose not to. When I woke up in the hospital four years ago I promised myself I wouldn't say a word, or even laugh, until my parents came back. Yes, I know it's stupid and it probably won't happen. But my mom told me anything is possible and I believe it is.

When I went to have the cast taken off my arms the doctors ran some tests. They told me and Chiron I was perfectly healthy and fine and that I'd start talking when I wanted to. Deep down I know I'm not fine. I cry myself to sleep every night, wishing I could see my mom and dad again. Wishing we could swap places. Of course, that won't happen. On the outside I'm pretty much alive. But on the inside: I'm as dead as my parents.

I feel the sofa sink a little and look up to find Thalia sitting next to me. She's nice. Well, I think she is, nearly everyone else in the Care Home is terrified of her- I'm not. I'm not scared of anything anymore- well maybe except spiders.

I think she knows I'm not scared of her because she's always nice to me. Everyone is, except those the two bitches that live here: Calypso and Drew. They always call me 'The Mute'. Thalia sticks up for me- I don't know why. One day she just started yelling at people who bullied me and sat by me in class. She hangs around with four other girls: Juniper, Silena, Rachel and Katie. I like them too.

"Hey, Annie!" Thalia greets and I glare at her. She knows I hate being called that- I didn't tell her of course, she just figured it out three years ago when I always glared at her when she called me it. She has called me 'Annie' ever since, just to annoy me.

"You're not going to be the new kid anymore," she teases and I shrug. "He's an orphan," she says.

Me and the kid have something in common. No one else here is an orphan. When Thalia was ten she woke up and found her house empty- her brother and mom just disappeared. No one has ever found them.

The Stoll brothers were left on the porch when they were babies and Chiron took them in. That was when everyone lived in the old Care Home. They built this one because the other one was too small.

Luke's mom is mentally ill while his father doesn't want anything to do with him so he was sent here, Rachel's mom and dad were really young when they had her and sent her here so they could concentrate on their jobs. Most of the kids here visit their parents often but others don't, like me. Because my parents are dead! While theirs are still alive- if one of my parents were still alive I'd visit them everyday, even if they sent me here.

I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't notice Thalia is talking to me until she waves a hand in front of my face. I blink several times and look around in confusion.

"You zoned out," Thalia explains and I nod slightly.

She opens her mouth to speak but a loud knock on the front door beats her to it.

Her eyes widen and she runs out the living room to greet the new kid while I stay sitting on the sofa. I hated it when some of the kids came to the door when I first arrived. I felt suffocated. I wonder if the boy will feel the same.

I hear squeals of excitement as everyone rushes to open the door. I hear it open and then Silena's high-pitched voice squeaking, "Jenny! It's been so long!"

"Hi, Silena," Jenny greets and I get a sense of déjà vu- this happened to me. "Everyone this is Perseus Jackson!" "It's Percy," a hollow voice snaps. Jenny sighs, "Percy this is Thalia, Nico, Silena, Beckendorf, Grover, Juniper, Katie, Travis, Connor, Luke, Drew, Rachel, Calypso, Ethan and A-" she pauses, "Where's Annabeth?" "The mutes inside," I hear Calypso say and I roll my eyes. "She's not a mute!" Thalia snaps and I allow a small smile. "She's had it the hardest out of all of us. At least she hasn't done anything stupid like kill herself. I bet if you were her you'd be dead right now!" Thalia finishes and I bet Calypso wishes she never opened her mouth. I don't know if I should go to the door with the others or to stay here. I choose the latter and bury my head in my book, even-though I don't read it but instead listen to the others talking. "Let them come in. It's freezing outside!" Chiron says and I hear everyone move to give him room. I hear the door close and then Chiron's voice, "You must be Percy Jackson- I'm Chiron, head care-worker." I've always wondered why he says 'head care-worker' when he's the only one here. "Let's go into my office," Chiron says and I see him roll past the door with Jenny and a lean, raven-haired boy on his tail. I don't see the boys face but I know he's tall and has tanned arms.

The office door shuts and I hear Drew squeal, "He's so cute!" Rachel, Thalia, Katie, Silena and Juniper walk in and they all take a seat. "You should've seen him, Annabeth!" Rachel sighs with a dreamy look on her face that makes me want to laugh.

"He's… perfect!" Silena says as all of the boys come in.

"What's up, guys?" Luke asks and I shrug.

"Nothin,'" Thalia says and everyone starts talking until Drew and Calypso walk in.

"Percy is mine!" Drew yells.

"No way! I saw him first!" Calypso argues and I roll my eyes. How I wish I could yell at them now. I know I can do it, I want to do it, I want to talk, and I miss talking. It's just I've forgot how my voice sounds and I'm scared it'll be weird, and because I'll be breaking my promise and it'll mean my parents aren't coming back.

The boys start laughing at the girls' stupid argument and I just watch TV.

About an hour later the office door opens. Chiron gives Percy a tour and after about fifteen minutes I hear them come out of the elevator. "I'll introduce to everyone," Chiron says and he rolls in. I look away from the TV in time to see Percy walk in and I swear my heart stopped. Even I'll admit he's handsome.

Everyone starts introducing his or her selves and soon it's Thalia's turn. "I'm Thalia," she says. Percy nods and then looks at me. Oh, it's my turn. Go on, I press, don't be scared. Everyone is looking at me- waiting for to talk. I look away, I can't.

Thalia pats my shoulder and says, "This is Annabeth Chase."

"I'm Percy Jackson," Percy replies and I look up to see him standing right in front of me holding his hand out.

Our eyes meet and I feel lost in his beautiful sea-green orbs. I look at his hand and then I shake it. The shock that goes through my arm makes us both pull away and I wonder if he felt it too. What was it?

I feel everyone's eyes on me and I hate all the attention. So I do the only thing that comes to mind. I stand up abruptly and run up the stairs. Percy probably thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I am crazy. Wait! Why would I care what Percy thinks? I don't know him and he doesn't know me. "Well duh! You just met!" a voice in my head says and mentally shake it.

I get to my bedroom and the slam the door shut behind me. I change into my pyjamas, knowing I'm too stubborn to make an appearance downstairs. I jump into bed and close my eyes. I try to fall asleep but questions keep popping into my mind. Why do I feel a connection with the new kid? What was that spark? That feeling?

After about an hour I feel my eyes close and I fall asleep.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Helping Hand

**AN: Thank you for the reviews! They really do make my day! (:**

**Chapter Three**

When I wake up the first thing I do after stumbling out of bed is race to the mirror. Like I expected my eyes are puffy red from the surprisingly small amount of crying I did last night. Today is a Sunday so instead of quickly getting changed and fixing my hair I deicide to keep my pyjamas on for a while.

I go into my bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth and then ride the elevator down to the first floor. I quickly run my fingers through my curly blonde hair so I don't look too much like a slob. The metal doors open and I walk out into the hall and then into the kitchen. I find fourteen noisy teenagers sitting at the large breakfast table chatting away.

"Hey, Annie!" Guess who said that? Correct. I shoot a glare in Thalia's direction but flash her a smile anyway. I grab a plate of pancakes and then take a seat next to her. I look at the many faces at the table and I only notice someone is missing when my eyes fall on a free seat. There's only one face I haven't seen this morning and that's Percy.

As if on cue Percy walks in and I'm surprised he hasn't covered his puffy red eyes like I always do. When everyone sees's him they instantly shut up at the sight of his red eyes. He's been crying. It's understandable his parents just died. Or one of them did and the other was already gone.

He stops abruptly after everyone grows silent and stares at each of our faces. When he looks at the others they look guilty and look away but when his eyes settle on me I let our eyes meet and I curl my lips a little. He smiles back and after grabbing a plate of pancakes he sits down opposite me.

Everyone starts talking again while Percy and I eat silently, sneaking quick glances at each other. For some un-known reason I feel… connected to him? Drawn to him. Maybe it's because we're both orphans. That has to be the reason, I tell myself.

I shove the last piece of pancake into my mouth and stand up. "It's your turn to do the dishes, Annie!" Drew squeaks and I glare at her. No one calls me Annie except Thalia- even if it does drive me insane. Thalia picks up on my deathly glare and frowns at Drew. "Don't call her that! You know she doesn't like it!" Thalia snaps.

"'The Mute' can tell me herself not to call her it and besides it doesn't stop you!" Drew yells.

"It's different with me- I'm her friend! I only call her it to joke around and she knows I do," She pauses and I relax a little… until she starts yelling again. "And if she wants to tell you, she will! And call her a mute one more time and it'll be the last thing you do!"

Drew tries not to look terrified but she fails. I thank Thalia with a smile and she nods and says, "Anytime." It's weird- she seems to know what I'm trying to say even though I don't say it.

I walk to the sink and start washing the plates. Soon the kitchen is empty… or so I thought because when someone places a plate in the sink I jump out of my skin. I spin around to find a laughing Percy.

"I didn't mean to scare you!" he says after he calms down. I smile and turn back to the dishes.

He grabs a towel and starts drying the wet plates. I look up at him in confusion. Why is he helping? "It doesn't seem fair to let you clean up and I have nothing better to do anyway," He says and I smile. I like this guy. Maybe we can be friends.

We both finish a while later and walk into the living room. "Do you go to Goode High, too?" Percy asks and I nod. I like how he doesn't look at me like he's expecting me to speak.

"Awesome. Could I hang around with you? I mean, if you don't want to it's fine but you seem nice so I thought…" I nod. "Thanks," he says and we sit in an awkward silence.

I bet it must be bad for him knowing he'll have to be the one to talk. I suddenly feel guilty, I've not uttered a word in years yet everyone still has hope that I will. Like last night everyone looked at me waiting for me to introduce myself- and I didn't. How long will they put up with me?

"Are you okay?" Percy asks and I jump, forgetting he was there. "You're a bit jumpy today!" Percy laughs and I roll my eyes.

Somehow Percy puts up with me all day. We stay in the living room watching DVD's. It's 10pm when we finally ride the elevator up to our floor. "School tomorrow," Percy groans and I smile. It will be fine, I want to say.

"Yeah, it will," he says and starts walking towards hid bedroom door while I look at him like he's crazy. He just answered my un-asked question. That was… creepy, I decide and close my bedroom door behind me.

I change into clean pyjamas and hop into bed. It wasn't long before my thoughts wonder off to my parents. I fall asleep with tears swimming down my cheeks.

**AN: I don't like this chapter and it's really short for me. I'm sorry. I will try to make the next chapter longer and more interesting. REVIEW!**


	4. That Day

**AN: I've decided to make this chapter three months later because I want Annabeth to start talking soon and I can't do that yet. So this chapter is three months later and is in Percy's POV. **

**Chapter Four (Three months later)**

I open my bedroom door slowly and step out into the darkness. I tiptoe down the hall trying not to wake Annabeth. I want her to get as much sleep as possible because tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of her parent's death and I don't want her to be exhausted. I want to cheer her up and help her think of the good memories and not the bad.

My bathroom door is a few steps away when I hear a loud sob. I freeze. I walk backwards a little so I'm standing in front of Annabeth's door. I press my ear to the wood. The choked sobs break my heart. Does she have to go through this every night?

I've heard her sobs hundreds of times and even if I haven't known her long I wish I could take away the pain. I suppose you could say we're close. She's nice- even if she can't talk. Or won't.

What do I do? Walk away? Go in and check on her? I sigh and softly knock the door. Obviously she doesn't reply but she does stop sniffing for a second so I open the door slightly and pop my head in. The sight in front of me kills me. The small light in the room coming from the moon let's me see Annabeth, curled up on her side in the bed, clutching a wet pillow.

I sigh and flick the light on, walking in and closing the door behind me. "Hey," I whisper soothingly. Her eyes widen and she looks away. I look down at myself wondering why she looked away. Oh- I'm only wearing boxers. I roll my eyes and sit in the side of her bed, her back pressed against my thigh.

Without thinking I move my hand to her head and run my fingers through her soft, blonde curls. The sobs return and she starts shivering. "Oh Annabeth," I whisper my own eyes filling with tears. Am I going to still be crying myself to sleep in five years?

She rolls over so her head is pressed against the outside of my thigh. "Ssh, it's okay," he say but my voice breaks. I take a shaky breath, put arms around her waist, and pull her onto my lap. I grab her blanket and lay it over us.

"My dad died when I was ten," I start, hoping my story will let her know she's not alone. "He was out sailing while my mom and I were home. He was gone for about three hours when I noticed my mom getting nervous- her being nervous made me nervous. I was in bed when I heard a knock on the door, I thought it was my dad so I ran out of bed and found my mom already at the door. She opened the door to let my dad in… only it wasn't my dad- it was a cop. There had been a storm; my dads boat had flipped over. He drowned." Instead of sobs I hear soft breathing and I know

Annabeth is listening. "My m-mom," I stutter and take another shaky breath. "We were at Montauk. My dad loved it there so we went there often. On the day we'd had a great time… and then came the ride home. A man crashed his van into my mom's side of the car. She went through the windshield- the doctors said she'd died straight away, like that will make things easier. The cops proved the driver was drunk and he's in jail but that won't make me feel better. That won't bring my mom back."

I don't feel embarrassed when the tears swim down my cheeks. I don't feel anything. "I barely got touched. I came out with a few scratches and bruises and she-she!"

I find my voice raising and anger growing inside of me. "B-but I can't dwell on it forever- _we_ can't dwell on it forever! Our parents would want us to carry on and be happy. Yes, we'll have bad days but who's stopping us from having good days? Tomorrow I'm taking you out, okay?" I don't wait for a reply because I know I won't get one. "…And we are going to have fun!"

I look down to find Annabeth staring at me with tear-filled eyes. Our eyes meet and I can't seem to look away. "I know you can talk," I whisper, "And I know deep down you want to, but you're scared. It's okay to be scared." My voice is a whisper again and I hope my loud voice from before hasn't woke anyone up from the bedrooms below us.

"You'll talk when you're ready- I know you will," I say. "And I'll be waiting."

I offer a small smile and she returns it. "You should sleep," I say and stand up. I gently kiss the top of her head, tuck her in and turn to leave but she grabs my hand. She tugs it a little and I look at her in confusion. She looks away for a second, her cheeks pink but she looks at me again and pulls my arm harder making me nearly fall onto her bed. This action makes me realise what she's trying to say… or trying to show. "You want me to stay here?" I ask gently and she nods.

"Okay," I whisper and turn the light off before climbing in next to her. I pull the blanket over us again and I automatically roll onto my side and rest an arm around her waist. I close my eyes. I have a feeling I'm going to have a good night sleep.

**Annabeth's POV (Morning)**

I wake up and for once I don't hurry out of bed and check my face in my mirror, but instead I roll over and come face to face with a sleeping Percy. He looks cute when he sleeps- even if he drools.

He stirs and I'm afraid I've woke him up. For some reason I don't want him to know I was watching him sleep- he'll probably think it's creepy, but I can't look away. He looks so… peaceful- different from last night when one minute he was sad, the next angry.

His mom died the same way as my parents and it was even after having a great day at the beach. Maybe that's why I feel connected to him- we have a lot in common. I sigh as he opens his eyes. At first he seems confused but his face soon relaxes and a nice smile creeps onto his face, which I return.

We lay there for a while; staring into each other's eyes but the sound of my stomach growling makes us head downstairs for breakfast. "Good morning Annabeth, Percy," Chiron greets and I smile in return. I sit down after making myself a bowl of cereal and dig in.

After a while I realise Percy isn't at the table and neither is Chiron. I look around in confusion but give up after a while. I put my bowl in the sink and smirk when I realise Drew is on wash-up duty.

I exit the kitchen and head to Chiron's office. I knock and when I hear his reply walk in. I find Chiron behind his desk and Percy sitting opposite him. He looks at me, grins and then says; "Chiron said he's going to take us all out in the van."

I raise my eyebrows. Where?

"It's a surprise," he smirks.

Two hours later we're all in the van with a hired driver at the wheel. The roads are familiar and after a while I think I know where we are going. When the driver stops the van I look out the window and what I see makes me gasp. We're _here_. The same one my parents and I had been at on _that_ day… The beach.

**Thank you very much for the reviews! I like reviews- the good ones make me smile and the ones with advice. How about a review?**


	5. The Beach

**AN: Okay, so let me write a quick speech: Thank you all for the kind words and waiting for me to update and carry on the story. I am keeping my promise and carrying on but it might take me a little longer than usual to update as I have another story I'll need to update. I'm replacing chapter five with his one and carrying on like I never abandoned the story. I'm sorry I left you all waiting and thinking I'd never update but here I am. Please enjoy the chapter and review! **

**Chapter Five**

I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach. Tears come to my eyes and I seem to have frozen. Everyone is hopping out of the van and running on the sand while I am sitting in a seat, staring wide-eyed at the beach. I gulp. "Come on, Annie!" Thalia calls before running off.

I slowly get out of the van and start walking towards the sea. I walk until the ice-cold water is barely touching my toes. I stare at the sea and then look behind me at the spot where my mom, my dad and me had sat five years ago. I walk over and down. "Hey, are you okay?" a voice I recognise asks.

I nod my head and turn to face Percy who is now sitting next to me. He smiles and I try to smile back but I know I failed when a worried expression takes over his face. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd like it here," he apologises and I shake my head trying to tell him I like it here. And I do. I'm just shocked that I'm here after so long.

I look at the sand surrounding us and lean over and grab a small stick and I start writing in the sand. _Thank you for bringing me here. I'm just a little shocked. This exact beach is where my parents and I were driving home from on-_ I stop writing and take a deep breath. Should I tell him? He told me his story, so maybe I should tell him mine… _that day. On the ride home someone crashed into us._ I stop writing and watch Percy's face as he reads my words.

Pain and sadness fills his eyes as he realises we have a lot more in common than just being orphans. "I'm sorry, Annabeth," he whispers and I shrug. I stand up slowly and take his hand. He stands up too and raises his eyebrows. I nod in the direction of the sea and he smiles and then runs off. He's right; we should have fun and not remember the bad stuff about our parents, but the good.

**Chiron's POV**

I watch as the two teenage orphans run into the sea hand-in-hand. I've never seen Annabeth this happy and I assume it's all down to Percy. I look over at the two Stoll brothers, kneeling next to me. "I bet you fifty dollars he'll be the one to get Annabeth to talk," Connor says.

"And I bet you fifty dollars that Percy won't get her to talk," Travis says and holds out his hand to his brother. "Deal?"

"Deal," Connor replies and they shake hands. I have a feeling Connor is going to win this bet. I hope he does because that'll mean Annabeth would've spoke and we've all been waiting for that moment for five years. We are still hoping- me and all the other children that she will one day speak.

**Percy's POV**

I squeeze Annabeth's hand as the cold waves hit us. "C-cold!" I stutter while shivering. Annabeth grins and splashes me. "Hey!" I moan and splash back causing a water fight that our friends watch from the sand. I turn around and head deeper into the sea. The next thing I know someone is clinging onto my back and dunking me underwater. I come up coughing and spluttering with Annabeth's arms wrapped around my shoulders, my back pressed against her chest and her legs wrapped around my waist.

I spin around, trying to get her off but give up after my fifth attempt. Instead I dive into the sea-green sea. I turn around underwater so I'm facing Annabeth and smile. The smile she returns seems to make me melt and I have to shake my head to stop the mushy thoughts. She looks at me weirdly once I do that and I feel my face heat up despite being underwater.

I swim to the surface and wait for Annabeth to come up. "First one to Chiron gets whatever they want off the other," I yell and Annabeth and I bolt towards Chiron. We race towards the shore and I grin when I realise I'm winning. I turn around and flash Annabeth a smirk. Surprisingly, she pokes her tongue out at me and I shake my head in confusion and turn to watch where I'm going.

I'm about halfway there to our winning place when I feel something hit my back. I stop in shock and touch my back to find a blob of wet sand. I spin around and see Annabeth running towards me with a grin on her face. I quickly bend over and scoop wet sand into my hands and throw it at her. To my delight it hits her face and she scowls and kneels down to get more sand. I do the same and soon we are having a sand fight. Five minutes later we are still at it. Annabeth turns around so her back is facing me and bends to get more sand. While she does this I grin, scoop sand into my hand and aim. It hits Annabeth right on her behind and I hear the "Ooh's!" coming from our friends.

Annabeth spins around in shock and I start feeling a little anxious when she starts charging at me. I turn on my heel and sprint towards Chiron and the others. Once I get there I turn back to find her pretty close. "I win!" I yell. "You have to do whatever I-" All I did was blink and when I open my eyes I find Annabeth is straddling me, her hands holding mine above my head while my back presses against the sand.

She has a smug grin on her face and I feel my face heat up when I realise our position and how everyone is watching us. Her face pales and then turns pink so I'm guessing she realised what position we're in too. She punches my arm somewhat playfully and leaps off of me and sitting down next to me, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

I look up to see everyone staring at us in amusement and then at the same time they burst into laughter. This goes on for what seems like forever and I finally let my laughter out, too. I glance at Annabeth and find a small smile on her face. I poke my tongue out at her and the next thing I hear _really_ surprises me. I look at everyone else wondering if they'd heard what I'd heard. What I'd heard was the most beautiful laugh ever that sounds like music to my ears.

The look on everyone's faces proves that they heard the same thing. I look at Annabeth who has a look of horror on her wide-eyes face. Annabeth Chase, the brainy blonde that never speaks, just laughed.

**AN: Review and tell me what you think. Sorry, if it's rubbish and really mushy.**


	6. Where It Happened

**AN: Sorry I haven't updated in AGES! :)**

**Chapter Six**

**Annabeth's POV**

Did I just do that? That's all I can think as I stare at everyone's shocked faces. That's when I realised I did. I had just laughed… and now I want to cry. Tears spring to my eyes and I don't want everyone to see me cry. I stand up quickly and run off in another direction. I don't know where I'm going but I just want to be alone for a while so I can process what I just did. I laughed.

You probably think it's not a big deal but to a girl who hasn't let one word come out of her mouth since her parents died, that's a _really _big deal. Of course, I wasn't left alone for long. All I had to do was hear the footsteps and I new it was him. It was always him but it's not a bad thing. "Hey," he whispers, soothingly. I don't day anything, as usual and bury my head in my hands.

I want him to know that just because I laughed doesn't mean I'm going to start talking. No way, I can't do that. I promised myself I wouldn't until my mom and dad came back. As I think that I feel something hit me… realisation, maybe? They aren't coming back. I've known that since they died, I just didn't want to believe it but now, now I think I'm ready to accept that. "You know, you're the only one upset about all this," Percy whispers and sits down next to me. "The others are a little shocked but I bet they're partying now or doing something stupid."

I don't say anything. I just sob. The more I think about being able to accept the fact that my parents aren't coming back the more I cry. Why? Because I'll never see them again. They'll never see me get married; my mom won't be able to help me plan my wedding and my dad won't be able to walk me down the aisle. They'll never see my have children of my own; a clever child, a girl with my blonde curls that I got from my own mom and her clever brain. "Do you want to be alone?" Percy asks and my sobbing stops.

I look at him and shake my head. I wanted to be alone at first, but not anymore. He nods and we sit there in silence. I find another stick and start writing in the sand again: _I'm sorry that I've ruined your day. _I watch his face as he reads the sentence.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault for bringing you here," he replies and I shake my head abruptly.

_I like it here, I promise. Thanks for bringing me here_, I write. He smiles and nods before putting an arm around my shoulder and whispering, "Your welcome."

He lies down and his hand on my shoulder makes me lie down with him. My head falls onto his shoulder and I turn my head so it's buried in his neck. "Are you going to talk one day?" he asks. "Because I'd really like that and so would the other's."

I don't say anything. "You know I one the race to Chiron so I get what I want," he whispers, his lips right next to my ear. I look at him and I know what he's going to say before he says it. "I want you to talk; to me, to anyone- but at least once. Do it for me, please? On my birthday, maybe?" he presses and I sigh and shrug. His birthday is in a month. But if that's what he wants, that one thing, I'm sure I can do it… for him.

"Percy, Annabeth!" Chiron yells.

"We have to go, it's getting late," Percy says, standing up and taking my hand. He pulls me up and we start walking, hand-in-hand. His hand in my feels so natural that I don't even realise we're still holding hands until everyone stares at us.

I follow their gaze and they fall on our joined hands. Our eyes meet and we pull away quickly, blushing furiously. Thalia raises her eyebrows at me questioningly but doesn't say anything. It's not like I'd answer her anyway. We all jump into the minibus and we are soon driving off. I look at the window, memories of the crash coming back. We've been driving for about half an hour when I see it, the large yellow sign with the huge dent in the middle. This is where we crashed that day.

I gasp and grab onto what I think is someone's hand and squeeze it tightly. I don't even look to see what hand it is but when the person slides his thumb across my hand I get a feeling it's Percy. I glance at him quickly but his eyes are on the yellow sign. They meet mine and he smiles sadly, he knows this is where it all happened.

I want to get out of the car and run over to the sign to touch it. I look from the sign to Percy and then back. His eyes widen. "Stop the bus," he says.

"What for, Percy?" Chiron asks from the seat up front.

"Just do it, please," he replies and when the car stops I smile at him gratefully. "Do you want me to come?"

I shake my head, feeling like I should do this on my own and jump out of the bus. I run until I'm standing right in front of the old sign. I trace my finger along the huge hole in the sign. I sigh in relief. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me and now I can breath. I step backwards and stare at the sign, that day flashing through my mind again.

_**(Flashback)**_

_We'd been driving home from the beach for about half an hour. The roof was down on our silver convertible and music and laughter was all I could hear. "We should do this more often," my mom said, turning the music down so I could hear her speak._

_"I'd love that," I beamed and my father nodded from behind the wheel._

_"How about next week? Maybe we can take a trip to Montauk, I heard it was really nice there," my father suggested. My grin grew even wider, if possible._

_"That would be awesome," I replied and my gray eyes met his blue orbs in the rear view mirror. "Thank you taking me out."_

_"Your welcome," my mom smiled. The lights turned green on the traffic light and the car started moving again._

_We sat in silence for about five minutes, each of us thinking with small smiles on our faces. Today had been the best day of my life, I thought, I can't remember ever going out with my parents like this. "How about we go to McDonalds?" my father asked and I nodded in excitement._

_"Ye-" that's when it happened. I didn't get to finish that sentence because the next thing I knew a loud 'CRASH!' filled my ears and I felt like I was flying._

_I opened my eyes; a warm liquid ran down my face and into my gray orbs. I wiped my eyes with my hands and when I opened them I found blood staring back at me. I gasped and tried to sit up, ignoring the pain in my back. I realised then that the car was on it's side. I crawl out in pain, hearing people yelling to eachother to call an ambulance and to get help. I looked at my surroundings and saw that my car had crashed into a yellow sign._

_Someone put their arms around me and held me to their chest while I watched as a crowd gathered around something._

_"Mom, dad," I sobbed, realising that they weren't in the car. I pulled away from the person and limped towards the crowd. I pushed my way through the people and found my mom lying in a pool of blood, her skin looked pale and her silver eyes were open, staring at me. "Mom!" I cried and ran to her. Someone pulled me back._

_"Don't," a soft voice whispered but I shrugged her off and ran towards my mom. A tall man stepped to the side and that's when I saw my father._

_**(End)**_

I shake my head, not wanting to remember how my father looked that day. Surprisingly, I didn't cry while thinking about it. I take a deep breath and turn around, ready to go home. _Home_. I'd never called the care home that before but thinking about it now it's what it feels like- a home.

**AN: Rubbish ending. Can you forgive me? :( REVIEW!**


	7. Presents

**Chapter Seven (A Month Later)**

**Annabeth's POV**

I sit on the sofa with Percy by my side. It's his birthday tomorrow and the present I'd bought for him online still hasn't arrived in the post yet. He hasn't mentioned what he's wants from me since the day on the beach and I don't think I'm going to be able to do it. I'm so nervous but I don't know why.

A knock on the door gets everyone's attention and they all run to open it while Percy and I roll our eyes and smile. "Do they always do that?" he asks, laughing and I nod.

"Annabeth!" Luke yells, coming back into the living room with everyone else. "It's for you."

I look at Percy and then at Luke, shrug, and then walk to the door. A middle-aged man stands with a package in his hands. "Annabeth Chase?" he asks and I nod. "Please can you sign here and here," he says, holding out a sheet of paper and a pen for me. I scribble my signature and he hands me the package. I nod to him in thanks and he leaves after I hand him the paper and pen.

"What was that all about?" Percy asks, coming into the hall. I turn around and hold the package in the air. "What's that?"

I tap my nose in a 'mind your own business' way and run to the elevator. "You're not getting a way from me that easily!" Percy yells and my eyes widen when I realise he's running after me.

I bang the button for the elevator several times before it opens but Percy steps inside just before the metal doors close. "What have you got here?" he teases and I shake my head and walk backwards. He steps forward and when my back hits the elevator wall I realise I'm trapped. I huff and cross my arms, trying to act angry.

"I'm not _that _stupid, Annabeth," Percy grins. "Besides, you can't be angry with me forever, you love me!" My face heats up when he says this and I beat myself wondering why he'd make me feel _this _way.

I mentally shake my head, trying to forget those thoughts. Percy puts a hand on the wall either side of me, crossing out my plan of running to the right or left corner of the elevator. He quickly snatches the package out of my hands and places it on the floor before going back to the previous position with his arms on the wall beside my face.

He starts to smile and our eyes meet. His smile freezes and I gulp, while he starts to lean in. Our eyes never meet and I start to lean in, too. _Ding!_ The sound makes us jump apart and I look to find the elevator doors open. I scoop the package into my arms and run to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. As soon as I do that I press my back against the door and slide to the floor.

If the elevator doors hadn't opened then what would've happened? I think we both know what would've happened. I put my head in my hands and squeeze my eyes shut. I don't know why I'm overreacting, it's not like I haven't thought of Percy in _that _was because I have. He always manages to take over my thoughts. Like the other day in school, we had swimming class and this guy didn't know how to swim and I was thinking 'Percy knows how to swim' and when I had a free lesson I was sitting in the yard, reading a book, I'd been thinking 'Percy would be teasing me for reading when I had a free lesson,' or something like that.

Sometimes it bugs me when everything I do reminds me of him but at the same time it's comforting because he's my best friend. Would've kissing him ruined our friendship? Would've we pretended it never happened or would we avoid each other? I bang my head against the door and make a groaning noise, hating that I still can't stop thinking about him.

I'd been able to hide my feelings for months but I don't think I can go on forever. Jeez, he's only been here four months and he's got me feeling like… like this. What does 'this' mean? It's confusing and worrying me and then at the same time I like it. "Annabeth?" Percy whispers and he knocks the door.

I close my eyes again and take a deep breath, telling myself to calm down. "I'm sorry," he says. "I-if you don't talk to, I mean, if you don't want to _see_ me or whatever again then I understand." Much to my disappointment I hear his footsteps quieten and I quickly swing the door open and grab his hand.

He spins around, startled. "Your not mad?" he asks. I shake my head. His face floods with relief and he puts his arms around me. "Thank god."

**(The Next Day)**

I wanted to give him his present last and I think he understood that because he didn't even glance at the present before he's opened the others. I admit I'm nervous. I'm not sure if he's going to like the present. It took me a while to find but I found them when Percy was out a few weeks ago and I new exactly what to get him.

"Thanks guys," Percy says, the smile he's had on his face since waking up still not disappearing. I wonder how he's really feeling. I mean, this is his first birthday with out both of his parents. I remember when it was my birthday; I stayed in my room all day and I didn't even eat. I'm glad Percy isn't like that. He looks at me with raised eyebrows and I hand the present over. It had taken me about an hour last night to sort the present out but hopefully it will be worth it.

Percy rips the wrapping paper and looks at the present. His eyes widen and his smile falls a little. He looks at me and then back to the photo album. He opens it and I watch his reaction. Tears fill his eyes as he takes in the photo of him and his mom and dad on a beach. The family had been smiling so wide and you could feel how happy they were. Percy seemed to forget about us all watching him as he turns the pages of the blue photo album, looking at each photo for about half a minute, sometimes smiling at a memory.

He turns over to the last page where I had stuck a picture of us. It was when we had went shopping one time and he's bought us ice creams and we'd dabbed some on each other's noses and taken a few pictures. The one he was looking at was my favourite. He closes the album and looks at me with a mixture of sadness and happiness in his eyes. "Thank you so much," he whispers. "I love it." I know it's not what he wanted. He wanted me to speak but who says I still can't do that? "I know I'd asked for something else but I realised it was selfish and that I was pushing you."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does because I pressured you and… wait!" his eyes widen. "What did you just say?"

"It doesn't matter."

**Oh god, this is bad. SORRY!**


	8. A Date

**AN: Oops, I've been so caught up in my other stories that I forgot about this one. Sorry! Anyway, I might take a little longer to update because the chapter's that I had planned are really rubbish so I'm going to re-do them… again, but this time I'm not going to leave you waiting weeks only a few days. I need some ideas really, really bad so if anyone has an idea and want to share please tell me. **

**And I'm writing a story, not a fanfic but my very own! Does anyone know if there's a website you can put your own stories on? Because I want people to read them instead of the story sitting read less in my writing book. Enough talking- I mean writing/reading (I'm confusing myself) here you all go…**

**Chapter Eight**

**Percy's POV**

I stare at her, unable to speak. "Oh, come on," she grins. "You asked me to talk and now you're the silent one!" It's when I hear chuckling do I remember we're not alone and that it would be embarrassing for both of us if I do what I wanted which is to lift her in the air and kiss her. But no, I can't do that.

"Wow," I say. "Oh my god. I can't believe it."

"You owe me fifty dollars," Connor grins, holding his hand out.

"I hate you, Perce!" Travis yells but I know he's joking because of the huge grin on his face.

"You talked!" I say, enthusiastically.

"Yeah," she replies.

"And your still talking!" I add.

"Do you want me to shut up?" she asks, smirking.

"No, no, no!" I quickly reply and she laughs. I love that sound. "We have to celebrate. Do you want to go to the cinema or swimming or anything you want?"

"I'd prefer going to the cinema but it is your birthday. You pick," she replies.

"The cinema it is," I say and look at Chiron for permission. He nods and I look at the rest of the gang. "Who wants to come?" I would've thought they'd all say yes but it's only Silena that jumps up, clapping her hands and squealing.

"I'll come!" she grins.

"No!" Beckendorf objects and she frowns.

"Why?" she pouts.

"Because…" he trails off.

"She can come if she wants," Annabeth says and I nod even though I'd prefer it if we were alone.

"No, Silena will stay. You two go on your own," Thalia replies, glaring at Silena. Silena huffs and sits down again.

I furrow my brow in confusion but don't say anything. Why won't anyone let Silena come with us? I shrug and look at Annabeth. "Be ready in half an hour?"

She nods and says, "Meet you by the elevator." I nod and we both stand up and head to the elevator and up to our floor.

"Thank you," I say once the elevator doors close. "For the album and for talking, I mean."

"Your welcome," she sighs.

"Are you okay?" I ask, knowing that talking must be a big deal for her.

"I'm fine. I'm great, actually. I expected my voice not to work or something but… I spoke. I'm speaking now." Then she starts laughing- like hysterical laughing.

"Are you sure your okay?" I ask, scratching the back of my neck.

"I-I," she laughs… and then bursts into tears.

"Hey," I whisper, putting my arms around her and letting her cry on my shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"I-it's all a little much for me. I p-promised myself that I-I would never speak until m-my parents came back," she stutters, her tears wetting my shirt.

"We both know they won't come back," I say, trying not to sound harsh but she needs to know.

"I know. I was young and I believed that anything was possible. I'm sorry, I'm ruining your birthday," she sobs.

"It's fine, don't worry. It's been good so far all I need is my mom and dad and it would be perfect," I whisper the last part.

"I know and I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better than I am and it's been four years since my parents died," she says, pulling away and wiping her tears.

"Well, it's not easy but my mom and dad wouldn't want me to be upset, especially on my birthday," I reply as the doors open. We walk into the hall and I turn to face her. "Hurry up and get ready and we can get out of here," I say and she nods.

I go to my bedroom and pick out jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a green shirt that matches my eyes. I take them into my bathroom and set them on the toilet seat before hopping into the shower. I wash my hair quickly and then step onto the mat after washing my body. I turn the shower off and change into my clothes, leaving the green shirt unbuttoned. I brush my teeth and try to make my wet hair look a little under control. "That'll have do," I whisper to myself after trying to control if for five minutes.

I walk into the hall the same time as Annabeth. She doesn't notice me as she closes the door behind her and I look her up and down. Her blonde curls are out of its usual ponytail and she's wearing a gray tank top, black skinny jeans and her gray converse. I might sound mushy but I have to admit she looks amazing- and she's not even trying! "Hi!" I call as she turns around and she jumps out of her skin.

"You scared me, Seaweed Brain!" she shrieks and I laugh.

"Seaweed Brain?" I question and she grins.

"Yeah, Seaweed Brain. All the time I haven't spoke you have so I got to know a lot about you- and you don't sound like the smartest guy in the world," she explains. I press a hand to my heart and fake being hurt.

"That stung, Wise Girl!" she laughs at the nickname I'd just made up on the spot.  
>"Let's go," she says and presses the button for the elevator.<p>

We wait for the doors to open in a comfortable silence and when they slide open we step inside. "Sorry," we both say as our hands touch, both of us reaching for the button to make us go down. I pull away and let Annabeth presses the button and I lean against the wall.

"Shoot, I forgot my purse," Annabeth says, the doors opening. "I'll be right back."

I get out of the elevator and let her go back up. I walk towards the living room but don't go inside when I hear someone say my name. "I bet you another fifty dollars that they will kiss," a voice says and I instantly know its Connor. Wait; are they talking about Annabeth and me?

"How would we know if they'd kissed if we are not with them?" that's Silena's voice.

"They'll probably be awkward around eachother. Either that or they'll start holding hands," Thalia says.

"Do they even like each other?" Nico speaks up.

"Obviously," Juniper says. "They spend nearly every minute of everyday with each other and haven't you noticed them sneak glances at each other?"

"I have," Luke replies. "Percy was practically drooling when he looked at Annabeth a couple of days ago." Despite not being in the room with them I blush.

"I got it," Annabeth says and I turn to find her behind me, a bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, let's go," I say and then call out as we walk to the door, "Bye everyone!"

"Bye!" they yell back and I close the door behind us. And then we were off…

**AN: I had to leave you wondering about what's going to happen. Now Annabeth is talking will she admit that she likes Percy and will he do the same? Will they kiss? Not a huge cliffhanger but hopefully it's enough to keep you hooked. Sorry if there's any mistakes with spelling or the personality of the characters. Point any mistakes out. REVIEW!**


	9. The Cinema

**AN: I haven't updated any of my stories in a while so I'm going to try and do a chapter for every story today. I'm sorry it's been so long. And sorry about any spelling mistakes. You see, I have fake nails on and they're a devil to type with! **

**Chapter Nine**

**Annabeth**

We talk all the way on the bus to the cinema and I bet by the time it's nightfall Percy will want me to shut up again. "I love your voice," Percy says and I find myself blushing.

"Thanks, I guess," I reply. "I like your… eyes."  
>"My eyes?" he questions and I nod.<p>

"They are a nice colour; green like the sea. I would love to have your eyes mine are a dull gray colour," I moan.

"No way. I'd love to have your eyes. They're a nice silver colour and they make you look wise and sometimes intimidating," he admits.

"Thanks, I think," I laugh and then notice we've arrived.

We get off the bus and it's then that I notice it's raining. Percy and I have been so lost in our conversation that we didn't notice. "Crap," Percy moans, drops hitting his face. "It's getting heavier!" I shiver and take his hand to drag him towards the large building.

"Quick!" I yell and we run. The rain keeps getting harder so I look at floor. Oh, no wonder my face was stinging- the rain has turned into hailstones. "Ow!"

"You oka- ahh!" the next thing I know we're both on the floor, me on top of him.

"Are you okay?" I gasp.

"Yep. Thanks," he grins.

"For what?" I ask in confusion.

"For blocking the stones from hitting me in the face," he laughs. I punch his arm and jump to my feet, making him yell when the hails start to hit him. I laugh and run towards the cinema.

I sigh once I get inside and lean against a radiator to warm myself up. Percy arrives about a minute later; hailstones stuck in his hair and I red nose. He looks… cute. I ruffle my hand through his hair and the stones fling to the floor. "Thanks," he trembles and I nod, shivering. "You cold?" he asks and I nod. He unzips his jacket. "Here."

"No, you're colder than me," I object. He rolls his eyes but leaves the coat on. I smile, thinking I've one until he holds his arms out.

"What?" I ask.

"Come here and I'll zip it around both of us," he says and I force myself not to blush at the thought of being so close to him.

"Don't worry about it," I say but he just pulls my arm so my chest hits his. I groan and my eyes widen at how… sexy it sounds. I blush but turn so my back is pressed against his stomach. He zips the jacket up and I instantly warm up.

We shuffle towards the desk and wait in line to get our tickets. "What do you want to watch?" he asks.

"You choose- it's your birthday," I reply.

"I don't care what we watch," he says and I huff.

"Percy just choose something," I insist, walking to the desk since it's our turn.

"Fine. Can I have two tickets to see The Hunger Games, please?" he asks and I grin. That's exactly what I wanted to see.

"That's $11," the lady says and I try to put my hand in my pocket for money when I remember I can't because my arms are stuck to my side.

"Perce, go in my pocket my money is in there," I say.

"I'll pay," he replies and I shake my head.  
>"No, I'll pay," I insist.<p>

"No, I will."  
>"I'd let him pay," the lady says, "He's being a gentleman. Few guys are like that now."<p>

"Fine," I huff. "But I'm paying for the popcorn and drinks.

"Okay," he says.

We thank the lady for our tickets and then go to the popcorn stand. "We can share so you don't use all your money," Percy says.

"You sure?" I ask and he puts his chin on my shoulder.

"Yep," he replies, his warm breath hitting my cheek and giving me shivers. I turn my face a little and my eyes widen when out noses touch. Our eyes meet and our faces move closer. Our lips are so close and I feel my heart thumping at maximum speed.

"Shut up, Death Breathe," a familiar voice yells and Percy and I both pull away.

"Wait," I whisper. Percy and I turn around to find not only Thalia but the rest of the kids at the care home at the ticket desk.

"Great," Percy huffs. "They've been following us." Percy pays for our popcorn and drinks and-

"I said I'll pay," I moan.

"Oops," he chuckles and I realise he planned this all along. "Your arms are stuck in my jacket so it looks like you can't."

"Get my money out of my pocket it then," I snap.

"Nope," he laughs and I bang my head against his chest. He grabs the popcorn and drink and we head to the room to watch the movie.

We are outside the door when Percy pulls me behind a wall. "Wha-" he presses a finger to my lips.

"Ssh!" I do as he says and we listen. I soon hear the familiar voices of Luke and Thalia mixed with the rest of the kids from the care home. Io peak my head around the wall and watch them go through the big door.

"They've come to watch the Hunger Games, too," I say.

"No, they know we are watching it because they've been following us all along," Percy explains. Then he tells me about hearing everyone talking about us kissing. I try not to blush but I bet I'm bright red.

"They think…?" I trail off and Percy nods. An idea pops into my head and a grin spreads across my face.

"What?" Percy asks.

"Why don't we give them what they want?" Percy's eyes widen.

"You mean?" he asks.

"Yes and no. We won't kiss but we'll lean in. When we're watching the movie put your arm around me- do things like that. They'll be on the edge of their seats and then we can confront them at the end." Percy laughs at my idea.

The next thing he says brings a huge smile to my face. "That's a plan worthy of Athena." I laugh, grab his hand and we walk into the dark room…

**AN: Not much of a cliffie but I want the whole of the next chapter to be them flirting. I know this chapter is a little short and I'm sorry. REVIEW!**


	10. Leaning In The Right Direction

**Chapter Ten**

**Percy**

The movie hadn't started when we walked into the pitch-black room but there were commercials playing. "They're probably sat at the back so we'll go in the middle seats," I say and she nods. We walk up the steps, my chest against her back and my hand holding hers under the jacket.

"This is going to be interesting," Annabeth whispers, looking at the popcorn under my arm and the drink in my hand. "Put the drink down first, then let go of my hand and take the popcorn," she orders. I do as she says and then un-zip the jacket.

She sits down and I take a seat next to her. "Thanks for the warmth," she smiles and I nod.

"Sure. Now what?" I ask, kind of awkwardly.

"Just keep talking. There are not many people here so if we talk loud the guys will here us," she whispers and I nod. I can't take my eyes off her face.

"What?"  
>"Your hair, it's stuck to your face," I smile and brush a few strands behind her ear.<p>

"Thanks," she whispers, her eyes shining. I bet the both of us facing each other like this is causing the other's to have a heart attack. I swear I heard someone muttering for us to kiss.

I wink at Annabeth and lean forward. She instantly catches on and leans in too. I get lost in her eyes and forget that I'm meant to stop half way to tease the others. Annabeth doesn't seem to mind that our lips are like an inch apart. She smiles and I lean forward a bit more, putting a hand on the back of her head. I'm about to kiss her when a piece of popcorn flies in-between the small gap and makes us both jump back in shock.

I don't get it. I thought they wanted us to kiss and now they're stopping us. I'm confused. I glance at the blonde beside me and the little light coming from the large screen let's me see her also confused face. "Grover!" Silena yells and I realise that they didn't want to stop us but Grover did anyway.

"I didn't mean to throw it at them. I was trying to aim for the smooching couple," he says.

"That is Annabeth and Percy!" Thalia says in a loud whisper and both Annabeth and I burst into laughter.

"What are they laughing at?" Luke whispers and this makes us laugh even harder.

"I think they know we're here," Silena says and I frown, wanting to play with them a bit more.

"Annie, you're meant to catch the popcorn with your mouth," I say, louder than I need to so the others could hear. Knowing them they'll believe that we don't know that they're here.

"Don't call me, Annie!" Annabeth snaps, winking.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Anna-banana!" I chuckle. She clamps a hand across my mouth, jumping onto my lap and laughing. I lick her hand and she pulls away, grimacing and wiping her hand on my cheek.

She jumps back into her seat and throws a piece of popcorn at me but I catch it in my mouth. She points at the screen. "Ssh, it's starting," she says and we settle down. She puts the drink and popcorn in-between us and we start eating as the movie takes off. I reach for the popcorn, my eyes leaving the screen when my hand touches Annabeth's hand. She looks at me and smiles before looking at the screen again.

I hope she doesn't notice me stare at her from the corner of her eye for about a minute because I just couldn't seem to take my eyes off her. I force myself to look at the screen in time to see Effie announce Prim's name and Katniss running to the stage. I wonder what Annabeth would say if I told her I read all three Hunger Games book. She'd probably laugh, I decide, thinking that I'm a Seaweed Brain.

"Why did we want to follow them again? Percy is being a pussy man he hadn't even put his arm around her," Beckendorf whispers from a few seats behind us.

"Charlie!" Silena scolds. "Percy is probably nervous. He's just waiting for the right moment."

Annabeth catches my arm and nods her head slightly. I take this as permission to put my arm around her and I slowly lift my arm. I rest it around Annabeth's shoulder and tilt my head so it leans against hers. "How romantic!" Silena squeals. "You don't so that to me, Charlie!" I snort, trying not to laugh at Silena's comment while Annabeth grins.

"Ssh!" Thalia hushes and the group quietens down to watch us.

I watch the movie for about fifteen more minutes before deciding the others might want some more entertainment and secretly I want some, too. I lift the hand around her shoulder and start playing with her hair. She looks at me and smiles again and I automatically smile back. I lean forward until our foreheads and noses are touching and I notice that Annabeth's breathing is getting heavier and heavier. This is hard. She shakes her head ever so slightly letting me know that I have to pull away soon. Or I could just stay like this or I could… I press my lips to her cheek and I hear the Silena and the other girls behind us sigh.

"Would you count that as a kiss?" Connor asks.

"It was on the cheek so no," Nico says and the brother's groan.

I watch the movie for a while longer and then huff. I've watched the movie twice already. Annabeth lifts her head up and looks at me. "What?" she whispers.

"I've watched this twice already," I admit.

"Then why did you choose to watch this?" Annabeth asks.

"Because it's first thing that I could think of and because I saw the books on your shelf in the bedroom," I reply and Annabeth laughs. Gods, I love that sound. I watch her tip her head back when she let's out the sound and grin. "What?"

"This is the third time I've watched this movie," she says and then I laugh even though it's not even _that _funny.

Once we've both finished laughing I open my eyes to find that our faces are close and I mean closer than before. I realise that Annabeth's eyes are closed. Do you think she'll kill me if I just lean in and kiss her? She probably would. I take a deep breath, telling myself to man up and press my lips to hers. Her eyes fly open but she doesn't pull away. I smile against her lips and pull away, resting my forehead on hers.

"I thought…" she whispers.

"I couldn't help myself," I smile and she chuckles. "Don't kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you," she whispers, "I've been waiting for you to do that since you moved into the care home."

I pull away, my eyes wide. "You… a-are… what?" I stumble and she laughs and presses her lips to mine. This time we don't pull away for a while and I plan not to pull away at all. I ignore the whistles and cheers coming from the back of the cinema but soon we have to pull away because the group is pulling us off our seats.

"What are you doing?" I yell when some of the guys lift me in the air. I look over to see the girls doing the same to Annabeth. I catch her hand in the air and the others carry us out, laughing and cheering.

"You took your time!" Luke grins and I blush.

"Do you know how scary that girl is?" I ask. The others laugh and the cinema workers tell us to quieten down or we'll have to leave.

They carry us outside and we are met with rain once again. The guys set me to my feet and the girls do the same with Annabeth before pushing her towards me. She stumbles a little and I catch her under her arms. She stands up straighter and I notice her pink face. I smile and press my lips to hers. I have to admit that that was the best underwater kiss ever!

**AN: I don't think this chapter was the best. I just wanted to get it up quickly so I'm sorry if everyone thinks its rubbish. As I told you a few chapters ago I'm re-writing the chapters I had wrote for this because I don't think they're good. So, please anyone with ideas help! REVIEW!**


	11. BoyfriendGirlfriend

**AN: This chapter is dedicated to _SWPeetaxKatnissAvatarTLA _as she always reviews on every one of my stories and always makes me smile. And to everyone else thank you so much for the reviews I really appreciate them! XOXO**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Annabeth**

We pull away a few minutes later, remembering that we're kissing in the rain and that our clothes are soaking. "Let's go," Percy grins and we run to the bus stop behind the gang. We have to wait another five minutes before a bus arrives and once we get to the care home we're all drenched from head to foot.

"I feel like having a hot bath, putting warm pyjamas on and drinking a hot chocolate in front of the TV," Juniper says and I moan.

"That sounds like heaven, right now. I'm going to go and do just that," I reply and walk to the elevator after greeting Chiron.

I wait for the elevator to arrive and when it opens I step inside, Percy quickly stepping inside after me. I smile shyly at him and feel myself blush. "Hi again," he says, smiling. I press the button for my floor. "Are you okay?"

I nod. "I'm just a little cold," I admit. Percy opens his arms and I walk into them without hesitating. I heat up a little and press my forehead against his chest. I can just imagine laying in a hot bath for ages and making my skin go all wrinkly before having a nice hot chocolate. The elevator doors open and I pull away from Percy and we get out of the elevator.

"I'll, umm… see you later," I say and he nods but doesn't turn to head to his room. I bite my lip, wanting to press my lips to his.

By the look on his face he's wondering whether to do something or not. I raise my eyebrows, expectantly and he sighs and steps forward. "What the hell…" he mutters before pressing me against the wall and kissing me.

He gently holds my arms above my head and I groan. This maybe, just maybe, could beat the underwater kiss outside. Do you get it? Underwater? In the rain… Yeah, you get me. With my eyes closed I tangle my hands in his wet hair.

I only open my eyes when he slides his tongue over my lip. I gasp in surprise but open my mouth a little, letting him explore inside. I've never kissed anyone like this before but I sure can get used to it.

My stomach feels like its on fire and I want more. But I'm sixteen and there's no way I'm going to be doing something as serious as _that_ at my age. Maybe in a year or two but I don't feel like I'm ready yet. Something tells me that Percy won't do anything that I don't want him to do anyway. He's amazing- a real gentleman. There are few gentlemen in this world these days.

He pulls away, both of us breathing heavily and grinning like idiots. "Wow," I whisper and he chuckles.

"I'll see you later," he says, pecking my lips and then going into his room. I turn around slowly, as if in a dream and walk towards my bathroom. I lock the door and I throw my wet clothes in the sink while the hot water runs into the bath. I put a pink bubble bath in the water and bubbles start to form. I dip my finger in the water when the tub is half full and shriek; that's way too hot. I turn the other tap and cold water makes its way into the tub.

Soon it is perfect and I jump into the tub, moaning as the hot water gives me cold skin goose-bumps. I wash my hair with lemon shampoo and conditioner before relaxing and closing my arms. Once the water gets cold and my skin is wrinkly I step out of the tub, wrap a towel around me and open the bathroom door to head to my room.

The first thing I see when I open the door is Percy coming out of his bathroom, water dripping down his face and… chest? My eyes widen, as they look him up and down; the only think he is wearing is a towel wrapped around his waist!

A blush climbs to my face and I'm relieved to find that his face is red, too. "I- err…" I trail off, not knowing what to say to him. He has an amazing body…

"Thanks." He smiles shyly. Wait. Did I just say that out loud? If possible my face heats up even more. I step away from the door and into the hall.

"I'm sorry," I quickly say before heading to my bedroom door. He walks towards his door, which is opposite mine. We are then facing each other; I clutch my towel to myself tighter.

"I, uhh- better get changed," I finally say, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the air.

"Yeah, you do that and I'll…" he trails off, looking me up and down before his eyes settle on my face. "Sorry." He turns around and goes into his room and closes the door behind. I do that same and lean against my door after I close it. I sigh. That was… interesting.

I quickly get changed into my pyjamas and towel-dry my hair so it isn't dripping wet. I throw it into a messy bun then, some loose curls falling against the side of my face. I take a deep breath before heading to the elevator. Thankfully, Percy doesn't come out at the same time. That would be awkward. The elevator opens on the first floor and I walk into the kitchen to find Juniper making hot chocolates for everyone. "Do you want one?" she asks me, kindly.

"Yes, please," I reply and take the cup off her when she fills it with hot milk. I blow on the hot drink before taking a sip. I run to the sink and spit it out. I put my mouth under the tap and let the cold-water flow down my throat.

Juniper laughs. "It's called hot chocolate, Annie. It's hot," she teases and I roll my eyes.

I help her carry the drinks into the living room and hand them out to everyone- including Percy who must have come down when I was in the kitchen. Our eyes meet and then look away, both of us blushing. I go to sit on the couch on the side but Silena pushes me. "Sit with your boyfriend!" she squeals and pushes me so I fall onto Percy's lap.

My boyfriend? Is that what he is? We haven't actually mentioned being a couple so… Percy wraps his arms around my waist and a shiver goes down my spine. It's a nice shiver, though and I relax.

"I'm sorry about earlier… girlfriend," Percy whispers in my ear and I blush again. He called me his girlfriend. A grin spreads across my face and I turn my head a little.

"It's fine, boyfriend," I reply and press my lips to his quickly.

**AN: Not a cliffie but I wanted to do some drama in the next chapter and leave this one all mushy and whatever. So, yeah… I'm sorry if you're disappointed. REVIEW!**


	12. The Rule

**AN: I've decided not to delete chapter eleven since… 1. I can't be bothered. And 2. A lot of people thought it was good. I'm sorry if anyone is mad about me not changing it but things will be slower in this chapter. I think you'll know what I mean if you just read it… Chapter Twelve**

**(The Next Day)**

**Annabeth**

It's when I wake up, no tears swimming down my cheeks when I think that maybe things will get better. A year ago I never thought I'd speak again and now… now I talk and have a boyfriend. I guess so far I've only spoke to Percy. I haven't had a proper conversation with anyone else but I think that's because I trust and know him.

I know that his mom died in a car accident just like my parents. I know his dad had drowned in a storm. And now… now I know that he likes me. I can't say that I haven't thought about us moving too fast. He barely knows me whereas I know nearly everything about him. She would be together? Are we moving too fast?

I can't help but think bad thoughts. It's like I expect something bad to happen. That's what normally happens after something good occurs. Like when my parents took me to the beach; my happiness didn't last long.

A light knock on my bedroom door brings me out of my thoughts. "Come in," I call out; smiling slightly at how good and normal it feels to call out to someone. Percy pops his head around the door and grins shyly when he sees me lying in bed.

"Hi," he says quietly, not moving from the doorway. "Can I come in?"

"Of course you can. You don't have to ask, Seaweed Brain," I reply.

He steps inside, closing the door behind him. I shuffle over a little and pat a spot on the soft mattress next to me. He walks over and sits down, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"Did you have a good sleep?" he asks.

"It was great," I reply. "What about you?"

"Same," he says, his sea green eyes shining happily. My stomach growls and Percy chuckles while my faces heats up. "You want to go eat breakfast?" he asks.

"Yeah," I reply, standing up and remembering that I'm still in my pyjamas. "I'll meet you downstairs, I'm going to get changed," I say and he nods, heading to the door.

Once he's closed the door behind him I strip out of my nightclothes and slip into gray tracksuit bottoms and a matching t-shirt. I throw my curly blonde hair into a messy bun and leave my room to go to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and wash my face before heading downstairs for breakfast.

As usual the kitchen is filled with chaos; Travis and Connor throwing bits of their cereal at each other like five year olds, Juniper spilling milk down her shirt, Thalia nearly sticking a knife in the toaster but Nico stopping her quickly… I don't think I've ever felt more peaceful and at home.

It wasn't like this when my parents were still alive. The house was always quiet since my mom and dad would've been in work before I had woken up. I would eat breakfast on my own, wishing they were there to eat with my like a family.

Now I'd do anything for one of those mornings, my parents still alive even if I wouldn't be able to eat breakfast with them. I wouldn't care as long as they were here. Still, I like the chaos.

I walk towards Thalia who is now yelling at Nico. "You think you know everything, Death Breath!"

"I know not to put a knife in the toaster," he snaps back. He's right about that one. Even I thought Thalia wasn't _that _stupid. I wonder when the two will finally admit they like each other. It has been four years since I came here and they still haven't made progress.

"Was you trying to kill yourself?" I speak up, not wanting them to kill each other.

"Annie!" Thalia grins, flinging an arm around my shoulder. I glare at her but she carries on grinning.

"Hi… Mrs. D'Angelo," I smirk and the two teenagers blush.

"Meet me in my bedroom after breakfast- we have some talking to do," she replies when she finally stops blushing.

I open my mouth to make up and excuse but she holds her hand up to stop me. I roll my eyes before taking a piece of toast out of the toaster. "Hey, that's mine!" Nico yells and I grin at him.

"Tell Thalia you love her and I'll give it back," I blackmail and he blushes again, shaking his head.

"No!" he yells and I shrug.

"Fine."

I spread butter and jam onto the toast and carry my plate to the table. I sit down on a seat at the far end of the big table. I look around at the other faces and find the one I'm looking for. I find Percy looking at me from his seat, at the other end of the table. I smile and he smiles back before turning his attention to Grover, who's been calling his name for about two minutes.

I take a bite out of my toast and Silena calls my name. I look at her and raise my eyebrows, not wanting to talk with my mouth full. "Hey," she smiles. I swallow.

"Hi," I reply. "Are you okay?" I don't really know what I'm meant to say.

"I'm great!" she squeaks and then starts to ramble on about something that I tune out of as soon as I hear the word 'make-up'.

Once I finish eating I take my plate to the sink and wash it before putting it away. Then I walk towards the elevator to go to Thalia's room. I might as well do as she wants or she'll just come looking for me.

I reach her floor and walk into her bedroom, not waiting for a reply after I knock. I sit down on my bed and she smirks, leaning against the headboard. "Details," is all she says and that's all she needs to say for me to blush.

"What?" I ask, innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about. Most of the girls here have had the hot's for Percy as soon as he walked through the door, except me o-"

"That's because you've always liked Nico. When are you going to tell him how you feel?" I butt in but she ignores me and carries on.

"So, what was it like? Kissing him, I mean?" she asks.

"Like a kiss?" I offer weakly and she rolls my eyes.

"Oh, come on!" she huffs in frustration. My first real conversation with her and she's already mad. I think I'm going to like annoying her…

"Fine! It was nice," I admit.

"Nice?"

"Okay, it was amazing," I sigh.

"That's better. I don't think your boyfriend would've liked it if I told him you thought kissing him was 'fine'."

"He would never have known and he still won't because you are not telling anyone about this talk," I warn.

"I'm not?" she asks, innocently.

"No, you will not," I reply and she rolls her eyes but I know she won't tell.

We talk for a while longer until someone knocks on the door. "Yeah? Who is it?" Thalia yells.

"It's Percy."

"What do you want?" Thalia asks.

"Is Annabeth here?" he asks, not opening the door.

"Maybe."  
>"Thals, Chiron wants to talk to us both," he replies and she looks at me with raised eyebrows while I frown. Why does Chiron want to talk to both of us?<p>

"What does he want?" Thalia asks and I shrug before walking to the door.

"I don't know but I'll see you later," I reply and she nods.

I open the door and smile at Percy and we ride the elevator. "Do you have any idea what this is about?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No idea," he replies and I sigh.

Once the elevator doors slide open we head towards Chiron's office and knock the door. "Come in." Percy opens the door for me and I walk inside.

"Thanks for coming," Chiron says as Percy and I sit down. Suddenly, I feel like I'm at the principles office for a telling off.

"You wanted to talk to us?" Percy says and the man nods.

"Yes. I understand that things between you two have changed a lot in the past twenty-four hours. That's why I want to talk to you now," Chiron replies and I frown. Is he going to give us 'The Talk' or something?

"Go on," Percy says.

"I don't know if you two remember but this care home has a list of rules; rules that I'm not willing to change." I have a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach…

"What rules?" Percy asks. I feel like _that _girl again; the one who sits silently and listens.

"Why don't you see for yourself," Chiron mumbles. He seems nervous, I decide as I realise he's not making eye contact with any of us.

He slides a piece of paper towards us and I take it in my hand and read each of the ten rules. I don't get what he's trying to say… that's when my eyes fall on the tenth and final rule:

No dating between two care home kids…

**Review!**


	13. Percy's Plan

**This chapter is especially for _Spotteddragon7_since he reviews a lot of my stories and is always giving me kind words so thank you. Also a big thank you to everyone else for reviewing, it means a lot.**

**Before I started writing my own stories on here and just read other's I always thought everyone was crazy when they said reviews made their day and then I started writing and I realised how happy they make me! So, sorry to the people I call weirdo's in my head but don't worry it means I'm weird, too!**

**This is more of a filler chapter so it might not be that good…**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**(A Week Later)**

**Annabeth**

We agreed that it would be best if we didn't talk to each other, that it would be easier. I still can't believe it. After all that, Percy and I becoming good friends, me laughing and then finally talking… it was all for him and now I can't talk to him because we'll end up kissing and that's breaking the rules. Who came up with that rule anyway?

He's been all I can think about for the past week: _Percy! Percy! Percy!_Everywhere I go, anything I do, I always end up thinking about him. See, I'm doing it now!

I mentally shake my head, trying to stop myself from thinking about _him_. Jeez, it's not like I'm in love with him. Wouldn't I feel empty inside and always sad like… like how I'm feeling now? Oh, well that explains why I feel like this.

Now I know how Mrs. Everdeen felt like in The Hunger Games when her husband died- I feel exactly the same way. The only difference is I don't stare at a wall and I go to school but I guess I'm like her a lot, too since I don't talk. Ever since Chiron decided to break the news to Percy and I, I haven't uttered a word.

Do you know hard it is? To talk to the one person you trust in the whole world and then a rule splits you up? We were only together for a day, if that. Oh god, I'm thinking about him again and I didn't even realise it.

I come back to reality when I notice my teacher standing in front of me, her eyebrows raised. "Can I help you, Annabeth?" she asks and I frown. She seems to realise I don't know what she's talking about and says, "The end of school bell rang a few minutes ago."

Oh. I jump to my feet, smiling apologetically at her and stuff my few items into my bag. I turn on my heel and I'm about to walk out of the room when she grabs my elbow. "Is something a matter?" she asks. I shake my head. "Are you sure?" she presses and I hesitate.

Could I tell her? Who would she tell? Besides, she's a nice teacher. I open and close my mouth like a fish. "You don't have to tell me if you're uncomfortable," she says quietly and tears fill my eyes. I force them not to fall. Why am I emotional anyway? I never cry in school.

"Hey…" Miss. McLean whispers, putting an arm around my shoulder and leading me to her desk. I sit down on the seat while she sits on her desk.

"Is anything going on at the care home?" she asks and I start to shake my head but stop.

I look up at her and she smiles sadly at me, pity in her eyes. I don't want her pity. I gulp before whispering, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure now?" she asks again and I sigh before shrugging. "Do you know what's up with Percy?" I raise my eyebrows in wonder at the question and shake my head.

"Why?" I ask, quietly.

"Well, he's been acting… weird lately. I mean, normally he's really talkative and now he barely talks. I have noticed him looking at you often, too." I feel my face heat up and realisation dawns across my teacher's face. "Oh."

"Yeah," I mutter and look at her. "Miss, have you ever been in love?"

"Annabeth," she sighs and crosses her legs on the desk. Suddenly, she looks younger- like a teenager. "I have been in love, yes. Why? Are you in love with Percy?" My eyes fill with tears again and I shrug.

"I d-don't know," I stutter. "I think so. I mean, we're not talking and I feel all empty inside and- oh god, I sound like one of those sappy girls."

Miss. McLean chuckles. "You sound pretty normal to me. I fell in love with a soldier. We were high school sweethearts and then he told me that he was going in the army. I was distraught. I thought he was going to die and I was terrified," my teacher whispers. I have a feeling I'm going to be here for a while. "One day a cop came to my door and told me there had been an explosion. Jason was dead." _Was?_He _was_dead?

"I came to work and went home. That's all I did. I felt lifeless. You never know what you have until it's gone. Anyway, I found out I was pregnant and I hoped the baby would look like it's daddy." my teacher smiles, lost in her memories. "Then my waters broke- baby time! It was a long birth and I wanted Jason by my side. Silena came into the world the same time as her daddy ran into the hospital room. He was alive all along."

It's only when my teacher looks at me and asks if I'm okay when I realise I'm crying. I quickly wipe my tears and nod. "Sorry," I mutter. "That- that must have been really hard for you."

"It was," she replies. "But I learnt a lesson. Don't let anyone go, Annabeth. Whatever has happened between you and Percy sort it out. Be friends if you have to but never stop finding a way."

I nod, unable to speak with the lump in my throat. I cough and croak out a, "Thank you. I better go."

"Goodbye, Annabeth," Miss. McLean says and I leave.

I walk home slowly, thinking about my teacher's story. She's right, I realise, you never know what you have until it's gone. She said to sort things out with Percy. How do I do that? That means we'll have to talk and I don't think I can bare to talk to him without as least a hug or something.

I sigh as I reach the care home and go to knock the door. My fist hasn't even touched the door when it flies open. Percy grabs my hand and pulls me to the elevator. "What?" I ask, as soon as the elevator doors close behind us.

"I have a plan," Percy replies, nervously. "You might not like it but I don't think it's a bad idea."

"What is it?" I whisper. Percy squeezes my hand and our eyes meet.

"I think we should…" he trails off.

"Spit it out, Seaweed Brain," I mutter.

He gulps before saying, "I think we should run away…"

**Review!**


	14. Running Away

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Annabeth**

I stare at him for about a minute before bursting into laughter. "That's hilarious!" I chuckle and then step abruptly. His face tells me that he's pretty serious.

"You want to run away?"

"It was just an idea," he replies, running his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry. It was stupid."

"No, it's just… I thought you were joking," I whisper.

"Well, I'm serious."

"Yeah, I know that now," I reply.

The elevator doors open and we step into the hall. I sigh and lean against the wall, sliding to the floor. Percy sits down next to me. "How can we do that? We wouldn't make it five miles with everyone looking for us. Besides, where would we go?" I ask.

"Montauk. My mom had a cabin there and I realised that it's still ours, I mean, mine. I got lots of savings and put that with my birthday money and we're basically rich besides my mom me everything in her will. I don't get the apartment until I'm eighteen but I get a quarter of the money now, another quarter when I'm eighteen, another when I'm twenty-one and then another when I'm twenty-four," he explains.

I stare at him in shock. "You've actually thought all of this through?"

He nods. "I thought that if we can't be together here then why not somewhere else? It's crazy and stupid but it's either that or I ignore you and pretend I don't love you." My eyes widen and I open and close my mouth like a fish.

"You…" I trail off and clear my throat before finishing, "… You love me?"

He blushes and looks at the floor but I make out a faint nod. "You don't have to say it too if you don't mean it. I don't care if you don't love me as long as you like me and-" I cut him off.

"I love you." He looks up, surprised. I have to admit that I even surprised myself by saying it. As you know I'm not a really talkative person so saying something like _that _is big.

"Y-you do?" he stutters and I nod.

"I realised it earlier. I felt all empty and sad and I realised that's how everyone felt when they couldn't be with the person they loved," I reply.

He swallows. "We could be together though."

"I know but there has to be another way. Silena and Beckendorf are together doesn't Chiron know about them?" I ask.

"I asked Beckendorf the other day and he told me that it's a secret. They've been together for six months and Chiron still doesn't know about them," Percy explains.

"Why don't we keep it a secret?" I ask.

"Because we'll change again. Chiron will be suspicious. You stopped talking again when he told us about the rule and I've been quieter. If we stay and keep it a secret then he'll know." He does have a point. "Or we can just be friends."

I bury my head in my hands and shake my head. "No, I can't be just your friend." I take a deep breath and look him in the eye. "We'll do it. We'll run away." He smiles and despite my nervousness I return in.

"Come here," he whispers and holds his arms out. I crawl into his arms and he holds me tight. "Do you want to go tonight?"

"Yeah," I reply. "The sooner the better." I look up at him.

"Okay. We better go pack. Only pack what we need. There are shops nearby so we can try getting a job. We'll be fine," he says.

"What time shall we meet?" I ask.

"Come to my room at midnight. Then we'll climb down the fire escape and go to the café before getting a cab to Montauk."

"Can I write a note? Just to say that we're okay and that we're together. I don't want to worry everyone too much," I ask.

"Of course. I'll leave a note in my room to," he says. He stands up and then helps me up. He smiles. "We're really doing this?"

"Yeah," I whisper, smiling. He puts a hand on both of my cheeks before leaning in and kissing me.

It's a short but slow and sweet kiss that leaves me wanting more. I pull away. "Let's pack now. By the time we're finished it'll be dinner time and then we can have showers and try to get a little sleep before going," I suggest.

"Great. Don't tell anyone."

"I know," I sigh. "I'm so nervous now."

"Me too but we'll be fine. I know we will," he says. I nod and kiss him one more time before going into my room.

I instantly start packing, grabbing a large backpack and stuffing five different outfits inside. In another backpack I put pictures of my family and other items and toiletries that I need. I pack my phone charger and all the money I have.

"Annabeth!" a familiar voice outside my door yells. I quickly stuff my two backpacks under the bed before answering the door. I tell myself not to talk or act differently. I open the door and raise my eyebrows at Thalia. She's known my long enough to know that that face means 'what is it?'

"Dinner's ready," she says and I nod, closing my door behind her and walking to the elevator while she knocks on Percy's door.

I hear him come out of his room and I try to act awkward when he and Thalia reach the elevator. "Hi," he mutters and I smile slightly but don't day anything.

The elevator doors open and we step inside. I lean against one wall while Percy stands leaning against the one opposite me. Thalia leans against the one in the middle, watching us closely. I shift uncomfortably. "Okay, what's going on?" Thalia asks. Percy and I look at each other and then at Thalia.

"Nothing," we both say and then blush.

"I'm not stupid," Thalia snaps. "Something is going on."

"You're imagining things," Percy snaps back. The elevator doors open and he storms out. Boy, he's not a bad actor.

I glare at Thalia before stepping out of the elevator and walking into the kitchen. I grab a plate full of food and sit as far away from Percy as possible. I eat quietly, stealing quick glances at Percy who I notice doing the same.

Once I finish eating I wash my plate and put it away. I glance at the clock on one of the walls. 6.30 pm, it reads. I sigh quietly to myself; midnight is five hours and thirty minutes away. I go back to my room and check over my stuff, ticking the items off a list in my head.

I decide to go to my bathroom and have a long bath. I strip off after locking the door and slowly ease myself into the boiling water. I moan in satisfaction and close my eyes for a while. I wash my hair with lemon shampoo and conditioner and then scrub my body with coconut bath wash.

After I'm finished I dry myself off and then run to my bedroom. I change into fresh clothes; a green t-shirt, blue skinny jeans and black converse. I throw my leather jacket onto my bed with my Yankee's cap, deciding that I'll put them on when it's midnight.

I check the time on my phone: 8:30. I can sleep for nearly three hours. I can slide under the covers and close my eyes, trying to sleep. It comes a while later and I have a peaceful nap.

My alarm goes off at 11:40. I turn it off and head to my desk. I switch the lamp on and scribble out a quick note:

_I'm with Percy. We will be fine. Don't come looking for us. Maybe we'll see you again someday. Thanks for being my family,_

_Love Annabeth_

_X0X0_

I hold the note to my chest for a second, my eyes filling with tears. I didn't think it would be so hard but the words are true. They are my family. They took care of me, even Drew and Calypso. I'll miss everyone.

I take another deep breath before grabbing my bag and tiptoeing out of my room and to Percy's. I knock the door lightly and he answers it straight away. "Do you have everything you need?" he asks. I nod.

"I left the note on my desk," I say.

"Me too," he whispers, closing the door behind me. I gulp.

"Perce, are we doing the right thing?" I ask, nervously.

"I'm going to be honest with you Wise Girl; I don't know. But there's only one way to find out, right?" he says. I nod and wrap my arms around him.

We pull away after a minute and I walk towards his window. "You ready?" I ask him and he nods. He walks over to me and opens the window.

"I'll go first," he whispers and climbs onto the fire escape. I watch him climb down and pass him our backpacks before following him. I close his window and climb down.

Once I hit the ground I look up at the care home, my home. Percy slides his hand into my mine and we turn around and walk away.

I never look back...

**AN: ****Review!**


	15. Ten Year's Later

**AN: So, after a long time about thinking about it, I've decided to continue. Thank you so much for all the kind words. Like a few suggested I've also decided to make this chapter set ten years later. What happened in the last ten years will be explained in the chapter. Thanks for all waiting patiently for another update.**

**I have another not so new story called 'Before I Die' and I'd love it if you checked it out. I am thinking about writing a new PJ fic. Either one called the 'Bodyguard' or one called 'Friend's With Benefits'. The latter would be rated M because, well… I don't want to give it away.**

**I don't know if I am going to start another story yet because I want to focus on getting all my stories that I'm writing now finished before I start any others. **

**That's all. Once again thank you and please enjoy and review. **

**Ten Years Later **

**Chapter Fifteen **

**Annabeth**

I grab my suitcase off the luggage claim and lean against the wall while waiting for my fiancé. I watch as he flings a backpack over his shoulder and starts walking towards me.

Our eyes meet and I smile at the playful look in his sea green eyes that I've always loved. I can't believe how similar he looks now from when he was sixteen. It's crazy.

His raven hair is slightly longer and standing messily in every direction. He has grown much taller. He's now a full head taller than me. His blue shirt is tight around his arms from tensing his muscles and his smile… well; everyone has to give-in to that smile.

That's the reason we're back in New York. I didn't want to come back but all Percy had to do was smile that cute and babyish smile of his and I give-in. He doesn't know the effect he has on me.

"Ready to go, Wise Girl?" he asks as he reaches me and slides his hand into mine.

"As ready as I'll ever be, Seaweed Brain," I reply.

I bet your wondering why we're back in Manhattan after living in San Francisco for so long, right? Percy wants to get married at Montauk, on the beach, where he proposed to me when we were eighteen. That's the only reason we're here.

I bet you're also wondering why we haven't married after being engaged for eight years? Well, the answer to that question is that we wanted to wait until we were settled into a comfortable home with good jobs and a happy life.

We left seven years ago when we were nineteen. Percy had got the money from his mom's will and we'd moved to San Francisco to get away and, okay, because we were afraid that someone would one day figure out where we were.

A week after Percy and I left the care home we found a newspaper in the bin on the beach and found that we were on the front cover. That was when we started to wear disguise. We were afraid someone would recognise and we'd sent back to the home, or worse, sent to separate ones, miles away from each other.

Percy calling my name brings me out of my thoughts and I look up at him. "What?"

"I said, 'Are you okay?'" Percy asks. "You kind of spaced out."

"I'm fine, really. I was just thinking," I reply.

"About what?" he presses.

"Running away," I admit, looking into his eyes.

"Do you regret it?" he asks.

"No," I say without a second's hesitation. "Do you?"

"Never," he replies and I grin before reaching on tiptoes to press my lips to his.

We reach the airport exit and I sigh once I notice the heavy rain slamming onto the ground. "I miss California already," I huff.

"Hey, it'll be fine. I checked the weather news and it said that May is meant to be sunny. All we need to do is book the wedding and buy the outfits and then we're done," Percy replies.

"I guess," I mutter as Percy signals for a cab.

One pulls over and we put our cases and bags in the trunk before sliding in. "Where to?" the driver asks.

"Lotus Hotel, please," Percy replies and the driver drives off.

"Do you think we'll bump into anyone?" I ask, nervously looking out the window to see if I recognise anyone.

"Nah," Percy replies. "Everyone's probably forgot about us by now. It's been, what, ten years?"

"Good point." I sigh. "I wonder what Thals looks like and Nico and Silena and… everyone."

"Do you think they hate us for leaving?" Percy asks.

"Who knows? But we can't dwell on the past. We can't go back to change it all so why bother thinking about it?" I say.

"You're right, as usual, my Wise Girl," he replies, kissing my forehead.

The driver pulls up in front of the hotel a while later and I pay him for the ride before getting out and grabbing my luggage. Percy grabs his and then we walk inside and to the reception area.

The lady at the desk is too busy, filing her nails with her back to us and squealing on her cell phone to someone, to notice us. Percy clears his throat and the woman looks over her shoulder and opens her mouth to say something when her eyes widen.

I didn't think we'd actually run into someone. I just kept imaging it. I didn't think it would happen. "I'll call you back," the receptionist says to whoever she's talking to before hanging up and turning to face us.

"Is it really you?" she asks, her eyes still wide. "Percy? Annabeth?"

"Calypso…" I mutter.

"It is you! Where have you been? It's been ten years!" she shrieks, causing a few people to look our way. Calypso doesn't let us answer. "I- we've been so worried about you two! Gods, one minute you were there and the next all that was left in your rooms were notes. Everyone came searching for you- even the cops!"

I don't know what to say. It sounds like she actually cares about us… about me! She hates me- ore hated.

"It's a long story," Percy finally says after he recovers from shock. "Maybe we can tell you the whole package another time but right now we're feeling jet-lagged and just want to-"

"Are you that selfish?" Calypso yells.

"What?" I ask, confused. I glance up at Percy. He obviously feels just like I do by the look on his face.

"Well, you just come back from god knows where and you haven't even asked how everyone is!" she explains, her voice echoing throughout the hotel.

"I'm sorry. We're as shocked as you are- trust me. How is everyone?" I ask.

"Worried sick about you two. We thought you were kidnapped or something!"

"We left notes," Percy says.

"The cops looked everywhere for you and couldn't find a clue," Calypso shouts.

"We're sorry, okay?" Percy huffs.

I have to ask the question that has been on the tip of my tongue ever since I realised that this was Calypso. "How is Chiron?" That man was so nice to me and even if he hurt Percy and me by informing us of the rule we still love him.

Calypso's eyes fill with tears but she still looks furious. The next thing she says chills me to the bone and sends what feels like a knife through my heart:

"He's dead…"

**AN: Character death! I had to. R.I.P. Chiron! Sorry if there are any mistakes. Please, review and check out my other stories.**


	16. How? Why? When?

**AN: Sorry, it's been so long and I left you with a cliffhanger like that! A poll is on my profile for my other PJ story 'Expecting'. I'd appreciate it if you would vote to say if you think Percy should stay in New York or go to LA.**

**Thank you and enjoy the chapter…**

**Chapter Sixteen Percy**

I stare at Calypso like she's crazy for what seems like forever. Tears are in my eyes and I feel sick. A loud sob that flies out of Annabeth's mouth fills my ears and I turn to face her in time as her legs give way underneath her.

I quickly grab her before she hits the floor. Calypso gasps. "Is she okay?" she asks. I glance at Annabeth. Silent tears are travelling down her cheeks and her face is as white as a ghost.

"She's shocked. Can I have a room please so I can put her to bed?" I ask. She nods and hands me a key.

"It's room 406," she explains. "I'll come up to speak to you on my break."

I nod even though I wasn't listening to what she said and head to the elevator.

I need to be strong for her but I don't think I'll be able to hold on for much longer. Tears are making my vision blurry and all I want to do is find out what happened to him.

I feel so guilty. We never heard and we didn't go to his funeral. I know we didn't know and didn't expect something like this to happen but we should've at least got someone to check on everyone.

I reach the right floor and find the door that has a sign saying: 406. I put the key in the lock and turn it before walking inside. I gently lay Annabeth onto the bed without looking at the room's appearance.

I climb onto the bed next to her and wrap my arms around her waist. She buries her head into my chest and mumbles while crying, "How could he be dead?"

"I don't know, Annie," I whisper, my own tears escaping my eyes and betraying me- So much for being strong for my fiancé.

"He was such a good person. He doesn't deserve to be dead. What if something really terrible happened to him? Like a-a car crash?" she stutters. I really hope it isn't a car crash. If it was a car crash that killing him then it would just hurt me and my fiancé even more.

"We'll ask questions later just sleep it off now," I whisper.

She nods against my chest. Five minutes later and I can steel feel her body shaking with sobs. As selfish as this is to admit I wish Calypso hadn't told us. This is meant to be a happy time where Annabeth and I plan our wedding, not a time where we are depressed.

"Sleep," I whisper, my lips touching her ear. I rub my hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her as tears still fly down my cheeks.

Half an hour later and she's breathing softly and I know she's asleep. I would sleep but for some reason I can't. Hearing about the death of Chiron has shocked me to the core and I feel like… like a robot, or something. It doesn't make sense.

A loud knock on the door brings me out of my thoughts. I untangle myself from Annie and quickly head to the door. I open it to fine Calypso. I press a finger to my lips and open the door wider for her so she can get into the room.

She walks in and nods when she realises Annabeth is asleep. "Is she okay?" she asks.

"She's just shocked, like me," I reply. "How- how did it happen?"

She sits down on a white couch and rests her head on her palm. There's sadness in her eyes as she says, "He had a heart attack."

I gasp and put my head in my hands. "Oh god. That-that's…" I can't finish the sentence. IT'S WORSE THAT A CAR CRASH!

"Terrible, I know," Calypso finishes. I hear Annie stir and I look over to the bed to see that she's still asleep.

Thank god, she needs as much rest as possible. I don't want her stressing… it's not good for the baby. That's another reason why we want to marry sooner.

Annabeth found out she was pregnant three months ago. Ocean was delighted when we announced that she was having a baby brother or sister. I feel guilty that I haven't called Ethan, a friend of mine and Annabeth's and also Ocean's godfather, to say that we had a safe trip.

When Annabeth had told him we were going to New York he offered to look after our three-year-old daughter so we can have alone time and plan the wedding in peace. He also said that he'd fly over with his goddaughter in a few days so we can see her. I miss her already.

"W-when did it happen?" I stutter, coming out of my thoughts of my daughter and settling on the subject Calypso and I were discussing.

"A long time ago," she says. I frown. Why doesn't she tell me the exact date?

"When?" I press.

Calypso sighs and whispers, "The morning that he found the notes in your rooms."

All I can think as the news sinks in is that it's my fault Chiron is dead…

**AN: Short chapter but you get a lot of information out of this chapter. Oh, and sorry if there are any spelling mistakes. I didn't think that chapter was that good but I wanted to update for you guys ASAP.**

**Annabeth is pregnant! And she and Percy already have a three-year-old daughter called Ocean. I literally only just thought of them having kids and thought it would be nice if they had a family.**

**Please vote on my poll on my profile (information on the AN at the top) and please review the chapter. Any ideas you have for this story I'd be delighted to here so please share.**

**Now that I've updated each of my stories I can relax!**

**Thank you and review!**


	17. A Drunken Percy

**AN: Don't kill me! I know I shouldn't have but I couldn't resist! Do you know what I'm talking about? No? Well, a few days ago I updated/started another story called 'Right Here Waiting'.**

**I know I really probably shouldn't have because I have like a million stories going already but like I said, I couldn't resist. It's a Percabeth story and I hope that anyone interested will go read it. Thank you.**

**I'd like to thank _Mini Jackson _for giving me the ten-year idea. I also want to apologise for being stupid before and forgetting to thank you and also for forgetting to put your name on the top of this update earlier. If it wasn't for your idea then I wouldn't be carrying on with this story so thank you!**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Annabeth**

When I wake up the other side of the bed is cold. I groan, wishing to have Percy's warm body next to mine so I can cuddle up to him. My eyes fly open when I realise that if Percy isn't here, he must be somewhere else.

I sit up and look out the window, the dark sky telling me that I've slept all day and into the night. Where is Percy? The events of the last twenty-four hours come back to me like a blow to the head.

I slowly stand up, bringing the bed quilt with me and wrapping it tightly around myself. I walk over to the door and turn the light on, revealing my surroundings. The hotel walls are a pale blue; with a cream couch that I have to admit, even though I love this hotel, looks uncomfortable, to the side and the large king sized bed I'd just been sleeping on to the right.

I walk over to the kitchen area and make myself a glass of water. It's when I bend over the sink, squeezing the counter until my knuckles are white, when I notice the note stuck to the fridge from the corner of my eye.

I drop the warm blanket and lean over to grab the small piece of paper. I squint my eyes so I can see the writing with my blurry eyes. _In the bar,_ is all it says. And that's all I need to know. I grab the quilt and throw it back onto the bed after I finish my glass of water.

I don't even bother to check my appearance before I'm out the door and heading to the elevator to get to the bottom floor where the bar is situated.

Once there I scan my eyes across the room and they land on a raven-haired man, his back to me as he sits on a stool at the bar. I can see an empty glass of what I assume is an alcoholic drink and frown.

The last time Percy had a few to drink he got me pregnant. I didn't mind it that time, of course, because a beautiful little girl that I love more than anything came out of it. And I can't talk because I was drunk too. What I don't like about it this time is that I know he isn't celebrating anything.

I make my way towards him, ignoring the looks I receive from men older and younger than myself. When I reach my fiancé I wrap my arms around his waist from behind making him jump in surprise.

"Are you okay?" I whisper, my lips touching his ear.

"I feel better than I did two hours ago," he slurs, turning around on his stool so out chests are pressed together. He wraps his arms around my waist and pecks my lips. I can taste and smell the whiskey and I make a face.

"How much have you drunk?" I ask, trying to sound soft and calm but also stern. I don't think tonight is going to be good.

"I- umm…" he trails off and turns his head a little so he's facing the barman. "Hey, man, you know how much I've drunk?"

"Too much," the man replies, flashing me a 'Good luck with him' smile. I sigh.

"We better go," I say.

"Noo, Anniebeth, you just got here and I haven't told…" he trails off, trying to remember the barman's name. He finally gives up and continues, "…Whatever his name is, that you, my dear, is going to be my fiancé and that we are havin' another baby!"

"Congratulations," the barman says. He turns to face me. "You want me to get someone to help you with him?"

"No thanks. I can manage," I reply. The man nods before walking off to serve someone else.

Percy faces me, a tired smile on his face. "How wass y-your nap?" he stutters, the letter 's' dragging out, sounding like a hiss.

"It would've been better if you'd stayed so I could have slept with you," I reply. I try to fight the anger starting to burn in my stomach.

"Anniebeth, if you want to go back to our room and sleep with me then all you had to do was ask," he slurs, grinning like an idiot. I didn't mean it like that. That's it.

"Get up," I snap.

"B-but," he stutters, doing puppy dog eyes that makes him look like our daughter. "… I haven't had another drink."

"And you won't for the rest of your life, Perseus Jackson!" I growl, grabbing a hold of his jacket and dragging him out of his seat. He stumbles a little and I tighten my grip on him.

He laughs and pulls me to him. "You know I normally hate you using my full name but today you saying it sounds sexy."

"Percy," I say in a warning tone. "If you don't get into our hotel room in five minutes then I'm not going to lay a finger on you for a whole month."

His eyes widen.

"What are we waiting for?" he mutters, weaving his fingers through mine and leading me to the elevator.

He stumbles into the elevator once the double doors open and once again I have to grab him to stop him from falling.

"If you ever do this to me again, Seaweed Brain," I snap. "I'm not in the mood to be looking after you!"

"I'm sorry, okay? You're not the only one in a mood!" He snaps, suddenly sounding half sober. Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to end well?

"I'm pregnant, a few hours ago I found out one of my most favourite people in the world is dead, and now I have to look after you! So I'm sorry that I'm not in the greatest of moods, Percy!" I growl, frustrated tears stinging my eyes. Thank gods we're the only two in the elevator.

"Apology excepted," he says cockily. I glare at him.

"I hope you have a nice sleep… on the couch," I snap, storming out of the elevator after it stops on our floor.

I stamp to my room and barge inside. I don't even bother to turn the light on as I drop onto the bed. I throw a pillow at Percy.

"You can have that and you can find your own blanket," I snap. "Good night." With out waiting for a reply I turn on my side and squeeze my eyes shut, only for silent tears to flood my cheeks. Stupid hormones!

I rest my hand on my stomach and give it a gentle rub, selfishly trying not think about Chiron. "Calypssss-o came up here earlier," Percy whispers. I don't answer and he continues to speak while I pretend not to listen. "She said that Chiron died of a heart attack." A sob escapes my mouth. "You want to hear the rest?"

I think it would be better if I heard it all now rather than later. "Go on," I mutter.

"It happened the morning he found our notes. The morning after we lest." I'm out of bed in seconds, running to the bathroom. I get there just in time before the bile flies out of my throat.

I can hear Percy run after me and feel him hold my hair out of my face with one hand and rub my back with the other. "I shouldn't have told you," he mutters, kissing my forehead.

I shake my head, wanting to tell him that I wanted to know but even though I'm still not being sick, I'm still gagging.

I lean over the toilet for another five minutes before I let Percy take my hand and lead me to the bed. I don't say anything as he lays me down and tucks me in before sliding in beside me.

I don't hesitate to move closer to him, flinging a leg around his legs and burying my face in his chest. I drench his shirt with my tears in seconds so he takes it off, making me feel even warmer.

"Never leave me," I mutter, sobs still wracking my body.

"I won't. You know I will never be able to stand a day without you by my side. I love you," he whispers and kisses my forehead.

That's the last thing I hear before I give in to sleep…

**What did ya think? Review? And check out my new story? Please?**


	18. HalfBlood Care Home

**AN: I'm going to try and update one of my stories a day. It will be fair so the one I haven't updated recently will be first and then the next day will be another and so on. Please bear with me though. With six stories on the go I'm trying to update as fast as possible. **

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Annabeth**

I wake up to the loud noise of Percy gagging in the bathroom. Instantly I'm out of bed and rubbing his back while he pukes into the toilet. I'm not surprised he's being sick after how much drunk last night.

When I first found him in the bar my first thought was that I was going to give him a piece of my mind this morning but now I know it wouldn't be fair to do that. He's going through just as much as I am, except the pregnancy bit, of course.

"What happened last night?" Percy asks after he stops being sick and turns to face me after brushing his teeth.

"You decided to visit the bar," I say.

"I kind of guessed that," he replies. "Was I an asshole?"  
>"A little," I admit.<p>

"I'm sorry," he apologises and wraps his arms around me.

"Don't worry about it. Just don't do it again or you will be sleeping on the couch," I reply, hugging him back. He chuckles lightly before pulling away.

"What do you want to do today?" he asks as he walks into the kitchen area of our hotel room.

"I was thinking we can buy some flowers and go to visit Chiron," I say, stripping out of my clothes and turning the shower on.

"Sure," I hear him reply quietly and with that I step into the shower, leaving the bathroom door open so I can hear him if he's talking to me.

I hear my cell phone ring as I'm washing my hair and I yell to Percy to answer it. "Who is it?" I yell once I hear him start talking to the person on the other end.

"It's Ethan. He says he wants to come over earlier with Ocean," Percy says, coming into the bathroom, my cell phone still pressed to his ear.

Despite what has happened in the last twenty-four ours I can't help the little excitement I feel at the thought of seeing my daughter again.

It was so hard to say goodbye to her for both Percy and me but he wanted to get married at Montauk so bad that I agreed to come so we can plan the wedding.

I don't think it matters if we are married or not. It's only a piece of paper. I don't see the point in spending so much money on a wedding when we act married anyway.

I gave in to Percy's begging and decided it was time to tie the knot. I think part of me was scared that he would disappear and that's why I didn't want to get married but he's still here so why not?

"That's awesome," I smile as I finish rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. I go on to wash my body and then massage my head with conditioner. Once I'm finished I turn the shower off and wrap a towel around myself before stepping onto the cold tiles.

I hold my hand out to Percy and he hands me the phone. I press it to my ear. "Hey, Ethan," I greet.

"Hey, Annie," he replies and I roll my eyes at the annoying nickname that Thalia also called me.

"Is she behaving?" I ask, talking about my three-year-old.

"She's been as good as gold but she misses you. So I thought we might as well come over early since I have time off work," Ethan replies.

"That's great. I miss her so much and it's only been a day."

"You want to talk to her?" he asks.

"Yeah, please," I reply and I hear him call out to my daughter in the background that I want to speak to her. I hear her squeal before she starts talking loudly into the phone.

"Mommy!" she calls.

"Hey, baby," I grin, walking into the bedroom. I go over to the bed and sit down next to Percy. I put the phone on louder speaker so Percy can hear Ocean too.

"Ocean!" Percy says.

"Daddy! Efan took me to da beach and we went in the sea," she giggles. I laugh at how she says Ethan's name with an 'f' instead of 'th'.

"Did you have fun?" I ask.

"Yeah, mommy. He took me to get ice cream and he even made me blue pancakes for bweakfast!"

"That's great. Are you excited to come see us?" Percy asks.

"Yeah," she says. "I didn't want you to go."  
>"I know, honey, but we'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?" I say.<p>

"Yay!" she squeals.

We talk to her for a while longer and then for another two minutes with Ethan before we hang up and I get dressed into a long gray maxi-dress. I slide on silver sandals and a denim jacket before applying some tan concealer over my red eyes.

I know that I'm going to have to be strong when Ocean comes. I don't want to upset her so it's better to get the tears out sooner rather than later. I'm hoping going to visit Chiron's grave will make both Percy and I feel a little better.

I brush my teeth while Percy gets changed. I realise while I'm brushing my teeth that I haven't had any morning sickness today and I'd love to keep it like that.

Once I'm finished and Percy is ready we leave the hotel room after grabbing my purse and head to the elevator. When we reach the lobby I look at the reception desk and find that Calypso is sitting behind the desk again. She looks up as we walk past and I mutter a greeting and she does the same.

I wonder if she's talked to any of the guys from the care home and told then that we're here.

Percy and I step into the cool air and start walking to a nearby flower shop that I noticed when we had arrived yesterday. "Which cemetery is he in?" I ask Percy as we search for Chiron's favourite flowers, lilies.

"I…" Percy trails off and I frown.

"You didn't ask Calypso, did you?" I ask.

"I forgot," he said, scratching the back of his neck. I roll my eyes.

"We'll go back to the hotel and ask Caly after we buy these," I say and grab a handful of different colour lilies.

We walk towards the pay counter and stand at the back of the line. It's only when it's our turn to pay and my eyes meet the chocolate brown orbs of the lady serving me do I realise who she it.

"Katie?" Percy asks. He must've realised who it was seconds before I did.

"Percy?" the girl says, confirming that she is Katie Gardner. She turns to me. "Annabeth? Y-you are alive." I gulp and hope that she's not going to act like Calypso did.

"Yeah," I say. I want to get of here now, I think selfishly.

"Where have you been for the last ten years? Thalia is going to go crazy when she finds out you are back! We thought you were dead!" Katie replies, her voice getting louder.

"I'm sorry, Katie, but can we meet up another time and then you give us a lecture? I'm trying to buy some flowers so I can visit Chiron and I'm really not in the mood to be explaining why we went and where and all those details," I snap, tears in my eyes. I can't cry in public!

"Chiron's dead," she says. She thought I meant we were going to visit him at the care home.

"We know," I sigh. "I meant we're going to his grave."

"So you know?" she asks, taking the flowers off me. I hand her some money.

"Calypso told us last night," Percy explains.

"I can't believe it's really you two," Katie whispers. "I missed you so much. W-we were all so worried." Her lips trembles and I feel guilty. I gulp.

"Do you know which cemetery he was buried in?" I ask, taking the lilies off her again.

"It's the one by the care home, a few blocks away," she replies.

"Thanks," I say.

I grab Percy's hand and drag him out of the store after calling a goodbye over my shoulder. I can't stay in there any longer. This is so hard, coming back here after so long and bumping into everyone. I can only selfishly hope we don't bump into anyone else.

We start walking in silence the few blocks to the cemetery. I realise as we stroll that we'll have to go past the care home to get to the graveyard. I wonder who owns the place now. Percy stops abruptly and I bump into his back.

"What is it?" I ask, annoyed that he stopped.

"Look," Percy whispers.

I step aside and follow his eyes. They fall on a familiar building that I'd just been thinking about- the care home. Half-Blood Care Home. I frown at the appearance of the once beautiful house and I gasp as I take in the view.

The large house is now bordered up, the windows and doors replaced by wood, the sign saying 'Half-Blood Care Home' upside down. The grass so long that I can't see the ground, holes in the roof.

The care home has been abandoned…

**Review…**


	19. Puppy Dog Eyes

**AN: Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes! **

**Chapter Nineteen**

**The Next Day**

**Annabeth**

I stand next to Percy, my hand in his as we wait for Ethan and Ocean to get off their plane. Yesterday, after we saw the abandoned care home we put the flowers on Chiron's grave and after saying a few words we left. I felt sick and tired and I couldn't stay there too long.

I still can't believe he's dead. He's gone, never to come back again. Tears fill my eyes but I blink them back as soon as they appear, I promised myself I would be strong in front of Ocean.

"Mommy! Daddy!" the loud squeal brings me out of my thoughts and I come to focus just in time as Ocean leaps into my arms and throws her arms around my neck. It had only been a few days and I missed her so much.

"Hey, Ocean," I mutter and kiss her cheek while holding her tight to my chest.

"Where's my hug?" Percy speaks up, faking a hurt expression.

Ocean giggles, jumps out of my arms and into Percy's. I look up to see Ethan and I give him a quick hug before greeting him.

"Hey," I say. "How was your flight?"

"It was okay, though I feel a little jet-lagged," he replies.

"We got you a room to yourself next to ours in the hotel. Ocean can sleep with Percy and I," I explain. He nods before he and Percy does the weird 'man-hug' that involves patting each other on the back like dogs. I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Let's get out of here and to the hotel," I speak up when I realise the two men are too busy talking to notice that we're standing in the way of everyone.

I take Ocean's hand and she tells me how she spent our days apart. "I missed you," she says after her long speech about going to the beach.

"I missed you too, honey. But it doesn't matter, you're here now," I reply and ruffle her hair. Sometimes she seems much older than three years old to me. Percy always says that she has my brains and I have to agree.

"Can we go to the zoo? And the museum?" she asks, enthusiastically. "Please, mommy!" she adds, flashing me her puppy dog eyes.

I furrow my brow, fighting with myself to say no but still I end up giving in. Why does she have to do puppy dog eyes? She really is clever if she knows that puppy dog eyes always makes me give in.

She's spent too much time with her daddy, who also knows that that face makes my walls crumble.

"Okay," I sigh. So much for free time to plan the wedding. We haven't planned a thing since we got here.

We get a taxi back to the hotel and when we get there Ethan goes to his room to sleep while Percy and I let Ocean eat in the restaurant part of the hotel on the bottom floor.

She sits opposite Percy and I at the table and stuffs her face with a muffin while talking at the same time.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I scold.

She pouts but stops talking and swallows the bite before repeating what she said before. "So when are we getting ma-ma…" she trails off, frustrated that she can't say the words.

"Married?" Percy asks and she nods.

"Yeah. When are we doing that?" she asks.

"We're not sure yet, princess. Hopefully it will be soon, before your brother or sister comes," he replies and she nods before finishing her muffin.

"When's the baby ready?" she asks, curiously.

"It takes nine months for a baby to grow, okay? I'm three months which means your baby brother or sister isn't going to be here for another six months," I say.

"Let's have a baby girl," she replies, excitedly. Percy and I laugh.

"We can't choose if it's a boy or girl, princess," Percy says.

"Why not?" Ocean frowns. I sigh.

"We just can't," I say.

"How did you get the baby there, anyway?" she asks. I nearly choke on my saliva but Percy pats my back while I have a coughing fit.

"I- umm," Percy stutters before looking at me. I glare at him. He's going to make me answer. He does the puppy dog eyes and I huff before turning to our daughter.

"The baby…" I pause, thinking. "The baby appeared after mommy and daddy wished for a baby brother or sister for you. A baby only comes when you love someone very much so me and daddy, because we love each other, wished for a baby and it magically appeared into my belly."

Percy nods, abruptly. "That's exactly what happened."

Ocean looks suspicious but she shrugs and asks, "I want a baby."

This time it's Percy's turn to choke. I smile at him and rub his back. Percy stares at our daughter and says firmly, "You're not aloud one until you are way, way older; like forty!"

"But fworty is old!" she moans, frowning.

"It's the age you have to be to have a baby," Percy insists.

"But you and mommy weren't fworty," Ocean objects.

"Let's stop talking about this now," I say, firmly. "Ocean, you can have kids when you're older than twenty and are married."

"But you and daddy not ma-maweed." She has a point.

"Because we didn't need a paper to show how much we love each other. Now let's go back to our room so you can have a nap," I say.

Half an hour later Percy and I are lying on the couch while Ocean is sleeping in the bed. "You okay?" Percy asks, pressing his lips to my forehead. I nod and bury my head in his chest before wrapping my arms around his waist.

"I guess," I mumble into his shirt.

"It'll get easier," he whispers.

"Will it? It hasn't got any easier thinking about mom and dad. I'm just used to the feeling," I reply.

He sighs. "Then we'll get used to this feeling as well. We have to be strong for Ocean and you can't be stressed because you know that it could effect the baby."

"I know and I'm sort but it's hard. We didn't even know he was dead. We didn't even call to check up on anyone. They were so worried about us, Percy. They will never forgive us," I say.

"We left because we wanted to be together. I don't know about you but I don't regret leaving, I regret not sending a postcard and calling not to tell them we were okay," he replies.

"I don't regret leaving, either," I say and then blink back a few tears. "I didn't think seeing the care home like that would have such an effect on me."

"I know. It looks horrible. I wonder how it turned out to be like that," he wonders.

"Me too. I hate seeing it like that when once it was a nice home. I'd love to fix the place up," I say. As soon as my words sink in I sit up abruptly and grin.

"What?" Percy asks, confused at my sudden excitement.

"Let's do it, Percy!"

"Do what?" he asks.

"Let's fix the place up," I explain.

"Annabeth it will cost thousands to buy it and fix it up. We won't have enough money to do that and get married," he says.

"Then we won't get married. We've survived without a piece of paper for years already. A piece of paper isn't going to change my feelings for you. I love you and I think we should fix the place up- for Chiron," I reply.

Percy stares at me. "Your serious?"

"One hundred percent. I think it's such an amazing idea!"

"You're pregnant, Wise Girl. You really think I'm going to let you do the work?" he asks.

"We'll get workers to do it. Ethan can help. I'll get some guys from work to come over and help," I say. The idea only popped into my head a few minutes ago and I can already imagine fixing it up so it's even better than before.

"And what do we do when it's finished?" he asks.

"We run it," I say. "We do what Chiron did for us."

Percy sighs. "Annabeth, I don't…" he trails off when I do puppy dog eyes. I've never done this face before but it must have a successful effect as I can see his eyes softening.

He rolls his eyes and says, "You don't know the effect you have on me." He presses his lips to mine. "You win. We'll buy the care home!"

"Thank you, Percy!" I grin. I haven't felt as happy as this in days. "You're not going to regret doing this."

And I know, I just know that this decision will be one that we won't regret…

**AN: Tada! Some of you guessed that it was going to happen. So, well done to you guys. I wanted to add a little happiness since I know that some have you think the last few chapters have been sad. There won't be any sadness again, I don't think. Not much anyway. So, what did you think? Review?**


	20. McDonald's

**Chapter Twenty**

**Three Weeks Later**

**Percy**

"Why did I agree to this?" I ask for what must be the hundredth time as I stare at the wrecked care home. Annabeth and I, having saved up so much money from our jobs, have paid for the house and have bought supplies to help with the fixing up.

Annabeth sighs. "We are doing this for Chiron and it's not that bad. It looks a mess but as soon as we're finished with it it'll be even better than before, I promise," she replies.

"This is going to take a ages," I complain.

"Stop moaning, Seaweed Brain. With the help of my crew back in San Francisco we'll be done in no more than six months. We'll have inspectors in when it's finished and if they approve we can get kids to move in. It's going to be perfect."

"I'm worried Ocean is going to feel left out since we're all going to be working on the house and then the baby will come and it will be even more hectic," I say.

"She'll be fine. You've already insisted that I don't do anything that could harm the baby so while everyone is fixing the place up I'll spend time with her," she replies. I guess that answer is good enough.

I sigh and say, "Okay, let's see what we have to do."

I scan what used to be a cosy living room and find that it's now cold and kind of spooky. "First, we need to fix the lights and make sure all the radiators are working and we'll change the floorboards so they don't squeak," I say, writing everything we'll need to do down on a small notepad.

I do this for every room in the house and about an hour later my notepad has nearly ran out of pages. "See, that wasn't hard, was it?" Annabeth teases and nudges me with her shoulder. I roll my eyes.

"I'm allowed to be stressed, Annie."

"I'm pregnant and you have more mood swings than I do," she says and I chuckle.

"Why don't you cheer me up?" I ask, smirking.

"And how would I do that?" she asks, smirking right back at me.

I take her hand and pull her arm so her chest presses against mine and our lips are brushing slightly.

"Why don't you just go with your instincts," I suggest and she presses her lips to mine. I back her against the wall and she tangles her fingers in my hair while I abandon her lips but instead trail kisses down her neck.

"Not here," she whispers and I stop and look at her. "It would be weird."

"I understand," I reply and press my lips to hers quickly. "Let's go back to the hotel."

We leave the care home.

* * *

><p>When we get back to our hotel room we are greeted with Ethan chasing Ocean around the house. Annabeth and I can't stop the smiles that spread across our faces as we watch Ethan tickle Ocean while she squeals in happiness.<p>

"Stop, Efan," she giggles and Ethan finally stops. Ocean runs over to Annabeth and I when she notices us.

"Mommy, Daddy!" she throws her arms around me first before doing the same to Annabeth.

"It looks like you two had fun," Annabeth says and Ethan grins.

"I don't know how you can put up with her. She has way too much energy," Ethan pants, trying to catch his breath.

"Tell me about it," I reply, stifling a yawn.

"Are you going to be staying here for a while longer or are you leaving for San Francisco soon?" Annabeth asks.

"I'm going to leave tomorrow," he replies. "My boss wants me back in work. I'm going to go back to my room. I need to pack and then have a nap. After chasing Ocean I feel like I'm going to drop."

I laugh. "Lucky you. I have to wait until night to sleep," I say.

He leaves soon after and Annabeth suggests we all go out to eat. "Where would you like to go?" Annabeth asks Ocean as we put our coats on and step out of the door.

"Donald's!" Ocean squeals and I can't help but grin.

"McDonald's it is," I say and take her hand while Annabeth slides her hand into my free one.

It doesn't take long to get there, as the fast food place is only a few blocks away from the hotel. I lead Ocean to a free table while Annabeth orders our meal. "Daddy?" Ocean says and I can tell by her tone that she wants to ask me something.

"Yes, honey?" I reply.

"Why that woman look at you?" she asks.

I frown. "What woman?"

"Her," Ocean replies and points to someone behind my head.

I turn in my seat and my eyes widen when I recognise the woman. She has spiky black hair and wide electric blue eyes. Thalia. I look to the guy next to her and if possible my eyes widen even more. Nico.

I force my mouth not to drop open when I notice the tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket in Nico's arms. He hasn't noticed me but Thalia definitely has and is already walking over.

I stand up as she walks forward and the murderous look on her face makes me tense. Something tells me this isn't going to be good. The closer she comes the more I prepare myself for the pain I will receive from the slap or punch that I'm sure I'll receive.

Maybe that's why I flinch and squeeze my eyes shut just before she throws her arms around me in a death-grip. I'm so surprised that Thalia Grace is hugging me that I don't hug back for a minute.

"Is it really you?" she whispers, pulling away. There are tears in her eyes.

I nod, speechless. "Percy?" I step to the side and watch as Nico walks over. "Oh my gods."

"Nico," I finally speak up.

"Daddy, who these people?" Ocean asks.

"There friends of mommy and I," I reply, never taking my eyes off Nico and Thalia. I can't believe how different but at the same time familiar they look.

"Y-you have a little girl?" Thalia stutters.

I nod again. "You do, too."

"Where have you been, man? Everyone was worried and Chiron…" Nico trails off and I look away.

"We know about Chiron," I mutter loud enough for them to hear. "We didn't mean for anything like that to happen. We just wanted to be together. I'm sorry."

"Where's Annabeth?" Thalia asks.

"My mommy is getting us food," Ocean replies for me. I smile at her.

"Ocean, this is Nico and Thalia. Guys this is my three year old, Ocean," I say.

Ocean stands up and walks over to them and holds out a hand to Thalia. They shake hands while Thalia looks at her in awe. Motherhood has definitely softened my old friend. Ocean shakes Nico's hand too before walking back over to me and hugging my leg. She seems way older than her age sometimes.

"This is Bianca," Nico says, looking down at the baby.

"She's beautiful," I reply.

"Oh my god," the familiar voice makes us all turn in the direction of where Annabeth is standing. Tears instantly fill her eyes when she realises who the two are and she drops our food onto the table before flinging her arms around Thalia. "I can't believe it's you!"

"I thought you were meant to be the wise one," I hear Thalia say. "You left. You two are idiots."

"We know. But we thought it was best," Annabeth says before pulling away. "Nico!"

"Hey, Annabeth," Nico greets, smiling softly.

I have to say that I'm surprised out how well our old friends are reacting to seeing us after so long. I thought that Thalia would go crazy and I can't help but be happy that she has a baby that has obviously softened her up.

"You have a baby. We missed so much," Annabeth says. I suddenly feel guilty for leaving ten years ago even though both Annabeth and I have already said that we don't regret leaving. If we hadn't left then who knows where we'd be now?

"We can catch up, I guess. Silena has organised a party for the end of the week. Everyone from the care home is going. It's like a reunion we do every year to catch up. You guys should come. Everyone would love to see you," Thalia says.

"They'll bite our heads off," I say.

Thals grins. "Maybe but you deserve it after the hell you put us through."

I know that we do owe everyone. I look at Annabeth. She looks at me. We both nod.

"Are kids aloud?" Annabeth asks, looking at Ocean and ruffling our daughter's hair.

"Yeah. So you'll come?" Nico asks.

"Sure," I reply.

I don't know whether to be excited or nervous. All I can do is prepare myself.

This if going to be one hell of a stressful week…

**Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes. **

**Review!**


	21. The Party

**AN: I had a little writer's block. That's why this update is late. I do have a new Hunger Games story called 'A Mistake' so if you're interested please check it out. Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes and sorry if this chapter is rubbish.**

** Chapter Twenty-One**

**Saturday**

**Annabeth**

Saturday comes way too fast. How is everyone going to react when they see Percy and me? And what are they going to think of Ocean? I'm so nervous. Part of me wants the day to go faster so we can get the reunion over and done with. Another part of me wants the day to go slow and hope that it will never come around.

Unfortunately, the hours pass quickly and I'm forced to get ready. Being four months pregnant I'm starting to show and my clothes are getting tighter every day. Percy went to our home in San Francisco a few days ago and packed all our clothes and personal belongings that we wanted to keep.

All the furniture we put up for auction, along with our home, has been sold, making us more money to help fix up the care home. Percy had told me to go buy something comfortable to wear for both Ocean and me for Silena's party. So, Ocean and I went clothes shopping yesterday.

Now, here I am, standing in front of the hotel rooms' mirror, wearing a long white maxi dress that is decorated with all types of colourful flowers and silver sandals.

Normally, I would never wear dresses but I want to look nice and dresses are the only comfortable thing to wear when pregnant. My hair, I decided, to put up in a nice but messy bun.

Ocean is dressed in a bright yellow summer dress with her blonde hair tied back into two braids. Percy decided to wear jeans and a blue shirt that makes his eyes pop out. He looks so much like he did ten years ago yet at the same time he's different. He's a man now.

"Mommy? Daddy said it's time to go," Ocean says, tugging on my hand.

I smile down at her and hold her small hand in mine.

"Okay. We don't want to be late, do we?" I reply, trying not to sound nervous. I lead her out of the bedroom and into the living area where Percy is sitting on the couch.

"You ready?" he asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I say.

"Let's just get it over with," he replies and takes my free hand before we head to the door.

Once outside I can't help but be glad I am wearing a dress in this hot weather. It hasn't been this hot since we got here but this weather is perfect for a party.

Percy hires a cab and we get in and give the driver the address Thalia gave us over the phone. It's crazy being able to talk to her after all these years though we barely talked before since I was a mute.

It doesn't take long, maybe fifteen minutes, to get there and by the time we arrive I'm so nervous I feel sick.

"Calm down," Percy whispers as we get out of the taxi.

"What's wrong, mommy?" Ocean asks, staring at me in worry.

"Nothing, honey. The baby's making me feel a little sick, that's all," I lie.

"Naughty baby," Ocean scolds, rubbing my belling. "You be good for mommy!" My eyes meet Percy's and we both smile.

"Let's get inside. This is the house," I say and turn towards the house.

It's big, but not bigger than the care home, and is pink. Of course it is, this is Silena's house, after all. The garden is filled with pink and red roses and there's an archway over the gate before you walk up a stone path and up to the red front door.

Percy and I look at each other with amusements in our eyes. "Come on," Ocean speaks up and drags us through the gate and towards the door. I gulp and bite my lip as we reach the large door.

"You knock," I tell Percy.

"No, you knock," Percy replies.

"Stupid mommy and daddy. I'll knock," Ocean squeaks before banging the door with her small fist. Percy and I smile at each other again.

Ocean, I'm sure, will help with any awkward silences.

I hold my breath as I hear a familiar voice from inside yell, "That must be Thalia and Nic-"

Silena doesn't finish her sentence as she opens the door and notices it is not who she thought it would be. Her face pales and she puts a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Hi," I greet, nervously.

"Well, you look older," Percy says and I glare at him.

"Obviously she'll look over, Seaweed Brain. She's not a teenager anymore," I say and roll my eyes. Ocean giggles. I watch Silena as she looks from me to Percy and then down at Ocean.

She jumps a little, just noticing our daughter and she let's out a weird sound, half squeak-half sob.

"I… you… but…" Silena mutters before yelling, "Guys, you'll never guess who's here!"

"Who is it?" I hear someone yell from another room.

"Come see for yourself," Silena calls back, not taking her eyes off us.

I listen to the loud footsteps, letting me know a whole crowd is coming to the door to see who it is. This will be interesting… Everyone gasps when they see us, obviously surprised. Who wouldn't be? They haven't seen or heard from us in ten years!

"Surprise!" Percy says weakly, trying to break the silence. And then everyone is shooting questions at us and dragging us inside.

"Where have you been?"

"Why didn't you call?"

"Mommy, why is all da people bein' silly?" Ocean asks, confused. Everyone stares at her in awe before they start shooting more questions.

"You have a child?"

"You have a bump. Are you pregnant?"

"How old is she?"

I don't answer the questions as too many people are asking different things. Instead, I just smile and squeeze Percy's hand.

"Guys, give them room to breath!" Thalia's loud voice yells from the front door, letting everyone know she's arrived along with Nico and their baby. Everyone falls silent except for the baby in Thalia's arms who starts crying.

"Great, I made her cry," Thalia mutters.

Nico rolls his eyes and takes the baby from his wife. "You don't like your mommy shouting do you?"

"Thalia! Nico! It's Percy and Annabeth! We haven't seen them in years!" Silena nearly yells.

"We bumped into each other at McDonalds the other day. I told them about the party and asked if they would come," Thalia exclaims. "Let them sit down and then we can all catch up."

We do as she says and Percy and I sit down on a loveseat while Ocean sits on his lap, staring at everyone. I can't believe how different everyone looks. It's crazy.

"So, where have you been all these years?" Silena asks, her face back to its normal colour.

"We stayed in my moms' old cabin at Montauk for a few years before we moved to San Francisco," Percy explains.

"Why did you leave?" Grover asks.

I sigh before replying, "We wanted to be together but the rule was stopping us. So, Percy suggested running away and we did."

"Do you regret leaving?" Luke asks.

Both Percy and I say at the same time, "No."

"When are you going back to California?" Rachel asks.

"We're not," Percy says.

"We saw the care home on the way to Chiron's grave and we decided that we were going to fix the place up and move in," I add. "What happened to it anyway?"

"When Chiron died someone needed to take over. This guy moved in but he was a drunk. The inspectors came to look over the house and they said that we'd have to move to another care home. We all got split up," Juniper replies.

"That's terrible," I mutter.

"People started vandalising. Some even snuck inside to have parties. None of us knew about it being abandoned until we came back and none of us would be able to afford buying it and fixing it up," Thalia says.

"I convinced him to fix it up instead of us getting married," I reply.

"You'd rather work on a house than get married?" Travis asks.

"We already feel married. It's only a piece of paper, right? Besides, we want to do this for Chiron."

By the end of the night we've caught up and are like old times.

**AN: No cliffhanger and I know it's not great but I wanted to update soon. Next chapter is going to be a few months maybe a year later when the house is finished and all the kids are moving into the care home. Not many chapters left until the end!**

**Review!**


	22. Baby Time!

**AN: I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews! There are so many and I'd be greedy if I asked for more but don't let my saying that stop you from pressing that review button at the end of this chapter!**

**Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes and I apologise for the wait for this chapter. I've had a little writer's block but I'm back!**

**R&R…**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Two<strong>

**Four Months Later**

**Percy**

I walk into the living room of the care home to find a heavily pregnant Annabeth painting one of the walls a light yellow. I quietly tiptoe over to her and wrap my arms around her waist, startling her.

I rest my chin on her shoulder and she turns her head to kiss my cheek. "I thought we agreed four months ago that if we take on fixing this place up that you'd sit back and let everyone else do the work," I whisper as I place both of my hands on her large bump.

"I'm only painting," she replies before making a weird hissing noise like she's in pain.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She nods and I look at her suspiciously. "Nico and Grover and coming around to help with the painting in an hour. I want you to rest before Silena brings Ocean home," I tell her.

Our old friends decided they wanted to help fix the care home up so at least one or two of them come over ever day and either help fix the floorboards or paint. Silena looks after Ocean for us a few times a week while on other days Annabeth and I take it in turns to have the day off to look after Ocean.

Everything has been repaired, the lift, the lights, the radiators. All we need is to get all the rooms painted and put all the furniture in. We've painted all the bedrooms on the top floor and finished adding furniture a few says ago.

The gang have all put in money so we can buy furniture and paint. We are hoping that with help we'll get everything done before Annabeth has the baby, which we found out is a boy.

We decided that we would have the three bedrooms on the bottom floor for Annabeth and I, Ocean and a separate one so the baby can have his own room so he doesn't wake any of the kids with his crying.

Annabeth turns around in my arms, paint brush still in her hand and dabs the yellow end on my nose. "Lighten up, Seaweed Brain. I'm not doing any harm," she smiles. I roll my eyes and wipe the paint off of my nose.

"How's our footballer doing in there?" I ask.

"Scoring some goals. He's kicking like crazy today," she replies and takes my hand and moves it to the left of her stomach. I grin when I feel a big kick.

"Does it hurt?" I ask and she shakes her head before wincing.

"That one did. They don't always but it feels a little uncomfortable when he kicks my ribs. This one is definitely going to be swimmer or a footballer when he grows up," she replies and I chuckle.

"Do you think we'll get this place done by the time he pops out?" I ask, looking around the room.

"If we are lucky. It'll be finished and filled with a lot of kids by Christmas, I'm sure," she says.

"I'm so glad we took on this project," I grin.

"I told you months ago that you wouldn't regret it, huh? That is why you call me 'Wise Girl'," Annabeth grins back.

"Are you okay? You seem very… happy," I ask.

Annabeth frowns. "Are you trying to say I've been grumpy?"

"Well, you haven't been in the best of moods lately," I admit.

"I know and I'm sorry but I do feel very happy today," she says and presses her lips to mine. "Now go get fixing this place up."

I turn to leave and she slaps my behind playfully and I chuckle before leaving the room. I like it when she isn't moody and isn't crying for any reason at all.

With only one month left before her due date she's been a little stressed to get this place finished before the baby comes. With all the help we are getting there's a good chance it will be finished before she has the baby.

I use the elevator to go to the third floor where I start painting one of the rooms a light purple colour. Like Chiron had done we are going to put two kids of the same sex in a room together. The only difference is that the fourth floor is going to be just for females and the third for males.

The second floor is where we've knocked down a few of the walls where we are putting in a large game room. We decided to keep the bathrooms on that floor and with the leftover rooms we're going to turn into a library with books and computers to help with homework and all.

The indoor swimming pool downstairs has been re-made as some of the tiles were cracked and were a weird colour. The large kitchen we've split into two rooms so the kitchen is now smaller but the dining room much bigger and instead of a long table we've put in a few round tables so there will be more space to move.

Chiron's office has also been repainted and furnished and we've put in a window so we can see into the front yard, which has now has freshly cut grass. The outside of the house has also been painted and we've planted some flowers so the place looks nice.

What we haven't done is replace the old sign with a new one though we have taken it down. I thought it would be nice to put the new sign up on the day the care home is being reopened. Annabeth and I had discussed changing the name to 'Chiron's Care Home' but after a few talks decided to keep it under the name Chiron gave it long before.

"Percy!" I hear a faint but familiar voice yell and I drop the paintbrush I'd been holding and run for the door as I take note of the worry in Annabeth's voice even though she's on the bottom floor.

I quickly walk down the stairs, deciding it would be faster than waiting for the elevator.

As soon as I get to the bottom floor I dash into the living room where I find Annabeth gripping a ladder so hard that her knuckles are white, her face scrunched up like she's in pain. The loud groan that slips out of her mouth tells me that she is in fact in agony.

This means…

"How far apart?" I ask as I start rubbing her back.

"About… three minutes. I thought… nothing of it… at first," she manages between deep, painful breaths. "It's too soon."

"You're huge, anyway. Everything will be okay. Our baby is healthy. He just wants to come now," I insist, trying not to worry though it's pretty hard.

"Should we go to the hospital now?"

"N-no," she stutters. "Not until my waters' break."

A knock fills my ears and I tell Annabeth I'll be right back before answering the front door to find Nico and Grover.

"Hey, Perc-" Grover starts.

"It's time," I say, cutting him off and Grover frowns.

"Time for what?" he asks, confused.

Nico's eyes widen.

"Baby time!" Nico nearly yells. "I can't be here. I nearly fainted when I watched Thalia have Bianca. There's no way I can-"

"I just want you to get as much of the care home done as you can. Call everyone else and ask if they can help and tell Ocean that she's going to have a baby brother soon. I want Annabeth to go to the hospital now because her contractions are only three minutes apart," I explain and lead them into the living room where Annabeth looks in even more pain.

"It's too early!" she pants.

"I know, I know. But everything will be fine, I promise. I want to get you to the hospital now," I say.

"What… about Ocean?" she asks, panicky.

"We'll look after her," Nico quickly says. "Just go, now. I can't watch this again."

Five minutes later Annabeth and I are in Grover's car and I'm driving as fast as I can to the hospital while being careful at the same time.

"Percy…" Annabeth groans and I glance her way to see the seats wet. "My water's have broke."

"Grover's going to kill us," I moan. "Can you try and hold on until we get there?"

"I don't know, Seaweed Brain!"

"Okay. Just take deep breaths," I order.

"What do you think I'm doing?" she snaps.

I sigh. Great, she's back to her moody self.

"Please, you can be as mean as you want to be this time but please don't break my hand this time!" I beg, remembering when she was in labour with Ocean she twisted my hand and broke it.

She did apologise afterwards but still… it hurt!

"I was giving birth and I didn't yell as loud as you did when I broke your hand!" she groans.

As embarrassing as what she just said is, it's true. But I wasn't expecting her to break my hand. I thought that only happened in movies!

I concentrate on the road again instead of talking and about ten minutes later we arrive at the hospital. I help Annabeth out of the car and carry her into the hospital where a nurse rushes up to us with a wheelchair.

"Her waters have broke and the contractions are three minutes apart," I say before the nurse even asks us anything.

She nods and leads Annabeth and I into a room…

**Baby time! I'm not going to go into details next chapter. The next chapter may be the last though. Dun, dun, dun... **

**Review!**


	23. Back Home

**AN: This is the last chapter… but then there's the epilogue! I've had so much fun writing this story and while I'm upset it's coming to an end I'm also excited. Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes.**

**Sorry about the really, really long wait. I've been feeling a little down lately. That's my only excuse really. I promise the epilogue will be updated much quicker.**

**R&R…**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-Three<strong>

**A Week Later**

**Annabeth**

Thomas Fredrick Jackson. Percy and I agreed to let Ocean pick his name and we couldn't hide our relief when she called out 'Tommy'. We were expecting her to say a made-up name that sounded terrible but she surprised us. She had been so excited when she visited a little after he was born with Silena.

She instantly started bossing everyone around and acting like she was Tom's mother. It was adorable to watch before I finally gave into sleep. It was a fast birth but still as painful as it was with Ocean. Though, I forgot the pain as soon as I held my little Tommy for the first time.

Percy was great. He let me hold his hand but I didn't break it this time- he kissed me for that after. It was scary as I still had a month left until my due date but Tommy was the perfect size. If I hadn't given birth then he would have been gigantic a month later.

"Are you ready?" Percy asks just as I finish zipping the bag up.

"Yeah," I grin as I turn to find him holding our baby. Today we're going home after spending the week at the hospital because Tommy was a little premature. "Is he sleeping?"

"Yeah. I've just got him to sleep. I figured it would be good to have a nap before we arrived home and everyone started fussing over him," Percy replies.

"Good idea," I say with a yawn.

"You tired?" he asks.

"Just a little," I admit, throwing the bag over my shoulder and heading to the door. "But I don't mind."

"I'm sure one of the guys will baby-sit so we can catch up on some sleep. I can't wait for everyone to see him," Percy smiles, excitedly. "I think we should have another one."

"A baby? Maybe in a few years when Tommy is a little older and we are all settled in the care home," I reply. "We are going to have a lot of kids to look after. Things are going to be hectic."

"We'll manage. The inspectors will be coming in a few months. The care home will be finished by then and we'll get settled in. All we will need is the kids."

"We need new rules, too," I add as we reach the car park.

Percy lays Tommy in his car seat and straps him in while I get in next to him so I can watch him while Percy drives us home. "Are we going to keep the 'no dating between two care home kids' rule?" he asks as he drives off.

"Now that we are older you have to admit that it wasn't a bad rule. We don't want kids sneaking into each other's rooms and getting up to stuff," I explain.

"But we have separate floors for each sex. Besides, there will be two to a room. No one's going to get up to something when someone else is in the room aswell. We'll ban a female and male being in the same room alone after a certain time. How about that?" he asks.

"I guess that would be better. We won't have any kids running away then," I smile. Percy chuckles.

"We'll put locks on their windows," Percy half-jokes.

"They'll feel like animals. Locked in. We could just put in an alarm and it'll wake us up if someone is trying to escape."

"That's a good idea," Percy comments.

"That's why you call me Wise Girl," I grin, stroking Tommy's chubby pink cheek while watching him sleep.

We arrive at the care home around fifteen minutes later. Percy opens the door for me while I gently pick up Tom and get out of the car. Percy grabs the bag I'd packed my hospital stuff in and closes the door before following me up the path to the care home door.

We don't even have time to knock before the door swings open and we are pulled inside, everyone cooing over our new baby. All of our friends decided to gather to welcome us home. "He's adorable!" Calypso gasps, peeking over Thalia's shoulder.

"He's got Percy's nose," Juniper says, smiling brightly.

"Mommy!" a loud voice calls over the others in the room. Ocean pushes through the small crowd and grins when she sees me holding her brother.

"Your home!"

I laugh. "Do you want to hold your brother?"

She nods, abruptly, and Percy sits down and pulls her onto his lap so she's sitting down before I gently place Tommy in her arms.

"He's so small," she whispers in awe.

Thalia nudges me in the side.

"How are you doing?" she asks, rocking her own baby in her arms.

"I'm great. A little tired but I'm so happy," I grin.

"You're starting to sound cheesy," she replies and I laugh.

"That's Percy's fault," I say and she nods in agreement.

"We finished the rooms downstairs and we've nearly finished the third floor," Nico speaks up, coming to stand next to Thalia.

"That's great. Thank you so much, guys. It would've taken so much longer if it weren't for all of your help," Percy says.

"We're happy to help. It should be finished in a few weeks, anyway," Grover adds.

"Enough about the care home. We have a new baby!" Silena squeals. "Can I hold him next?"

"You can all take it in turns and if anyone wants to baby-sit…" Percy trails off, hinting.

"I'll baby-sit!" Silena says, immediately.

"You already have a house full of kids. Are you sure you'll be able to manage?" Percy asks.

"Of course. I have Beckendorf to help," Silena insists.

"That's awesome. When we get too tired we'll drop him over," I say and she nods, excitedly.

"It's crazy how much things have changed," Nico says, changing the subject. We all nod in agreement.

"Ten years ago Percy was the new guy," I reply.

"And you didn't talk," Luke adds.

"You ran away!" Rachel says.

"It seems that the drama only came when Percy arrived," Thalia laughs. "It's all his fault!"

"Oh, come on. If it wasn't for me Annabeth still wouldn't be talking and we wouldn't have run away and ended up here," Percy replies.

"I'm happy you came," I say and go over to kiss Percy on the cheek.

"Oh, talk about cheesy!" Thalia exclaims and I roll my eyes.

"And if daddy didn't meet mommy I wouldn't be here or my Tommy," Ocean speaks up.

"That's right, sweetie," Percy chuckles.

Everyone takes it in turns to hold Tommy and by the time he's ready for a feed everyone has had a hold. "Let's leave them alone to get settled in," Thalia orders, being her usual bossy self.

"We'll be over to help finish this place up in a few days," Grover explains.

"That's good. Thanks," I say. We say our goodbyes and five minutes later the only people left are Percy, Tommy, Ocean and I.

"Why don't you come help me make pancakes while mommy feeds Tommy?" Percy asks Ocean.

"But it's late. We are meant to have pancakes at breakfast!" Ocean giggles.

"That's not true!" Percy gasps, dramatically. "In this house you can have pancakes whenever you want."

"I like pancakes," Ocean adds.

"Then let's get cooking!"

Percy and Ocean leave the room while I take the seat Percy had been sitting on minutes before. I start feeding Tommy while I think about the past. What Thalia said before was correct. The drama did only come when Percy came. But if he hadn't come then I wouldn't be here now, holding my son in my arms.

Yes, it's been a roll-coaster. Things haven't been easy. We've lost people we love but we've also added people to our list of loved ones. But being here, right now, feels perfect. Who knows where I'd be if Percy hadn't moved into the care home ten years ago.

Maybe Chiron would still be alive. Maybe I'd be married to another man. Maybe I wouldn't have any kids at all. I'd never go back and change what happened, even if it meant losing Chiron. I'll miss him forever and regret not saying goodbye to him.

A forgotten memory comes back to me and I smile a little as I remember what my mom once told me:_ Every cloud has a silver lining._ She was right. My parents died and Percy saved me from becoming a lonely mute. Chiron died and now I am as happy as I can be.

I have two children and the best fiancé I could ever have.

This is my home.

This is where I belong.

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><p><strong>AN: Kind of a weird ending, I think. But what do <em>you <em>think? Epilogue next chapter! Review!**


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**A Year Later**

**Percy**

I've been saving up for this day for nearly a whole year. Annabeth doesn't know a thing. It's been a challenge to keep this hidden from her but I managed to keep my lips sealed and now today I finally get to make her my wife. Just like with the care home, our friends helped plan along with the new kids living in the care home.

The year has been tough but I wouldn't change it at all. Two months after the care home was finally fixed up we reopened and a whole bunch of kids moved in. I felt so proud to be able to stick the new sign above the door. Annabeth got to work right away and tried to make everyone feel at home.

In all there are fifteen kids- 8 girls and 7 boys. The youngest is seven-year-old Bethany. She's little but I can't say the same about her mouth. She likes having the attention on her, which is hard when there are fourteen other kids that need to be looked after, including my own.

The oldest is seventeen-year-old Riley, who turns eighteen in five days and has enough money to start renting out a little apartment a few blocks away. He's like the big brother of the group, always looking out for the younger kids at school. He has a nine-year-old sister, Gabrielle, whom he's planning on adopting as soon as he can. He knows that she's safe with us but he doesn't want to be split up from her.

The other's are:

Cassidy, who is thirteen and wants to be a model when she grows up.

Hannah is a ten year old that likes to paint on her bedroom wall. It was hilarious when one day she ran downstairs and into the kitchen with paint all over her, yelling that the paint had magically flew in her face.

There is fifteen-year-old Maryanne. She comes from a troubled background and is a little rebel. She often gets in trouble at school for not going to lessons but she always apologises to us when she comes home.

Twelve-year-old Rebecca is Cassidy's best friend. She, like Cassidy, wants to be famous though she wants to be a singer instead of being a model like her friend. I have to admit she does have a pretty good voice. She makes Annie and me proud when we watch her perform at her school talent show.

Jamie-Leigh and Hayden are identical eight-year-old twins. They remind Annabeth and I a lot like the Stoll brothers by switching places all the time and playing pranks on everyone. They'll be leaving the care home soon as a newly wedded couple that are unable to have children are adopting them.

The six other boys, not including Riley are:

Bobby who has brown hair that curls on his forehead. He's a fast runner and wants to be in the Olympics when he grows up. He's fifteen and is the joker of the large group. He always cheers everyone up if they're in a bad mood.

Dylan- a blonde-haired ten-year-old is so tiny that he looks five. He carries a play camera around the care home all the time, pretending to snap pictures of everyone. We think he's going to be a photographer.

There's seven-year-old Ryan, who has a huge crush on Ocean. Ocean is always shy around him and once told me that they are going to get married when they grow up. I don't know what to think about that. Silena thinks they are adorable together.

Liam is a ten-year-old orphan that had to have his leg amputated after being in the same car accident that killed his parents. He was very quiet when he arrived here but he came out of his shell a few days later.

Sixteen-year-old Kyle is Maryanne's best friend and is the only one who can calm her down when she's angry. They argue all the time but they always make up before the day ends. Annabeth has pointed out to me that they obviously like each other in 'that' way. At first I didn't see it but then I noticed how the two would often sneak glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking.

And finally there is fourteen-year-old Eric. He's probably the brainiest of the kids in the whole care home. If someone needs help with their homework then they always go to him. He sometimes reminds me of Annabeth when he says something that I don't understand. Obviously, I don't admit that I haven't got a clue what he's talking about because that would be so embarrassing.

"Daddy!" Ocean squeals, running into the kitchen where I am busy flipping a pancake in the air while everyone is eating at the small tables. "Mommy is getting Tommy dressed in those nice clothes you put out for him. She asked why you'd want him to wear something so smart when we are staying here all day."

"Tell mommy that I think we should go to the beach later because the weather is nice," I say with a wink. Ocean runs off out of the kitchen.

"What are you going to wear?" Rebecca asks as I put a pancake on her plate.

"A suit," I reply.

"Won't she suspect something?" she questions.

"Probably, but it is Annabeth. I'll say that I wanted to look smart or something. Can you make sure she puts that white summer dress on? I laid it out for her but she hates wearing dresses."

"Sure. I'll tell her that it compliments her eyes or something," she says before walking over to a table and sitting down to eat.

"Has everyone got a few pancakes on their plates or have I missed anyone out?" I call.

"Everyone is eating, Perce. Relax and chill for a while, Dude. It's your wedding day," Riley whispers, quietly, so Annabeth won't hear from the other room.

"I'm a little nervous, okay? I'll be a mess if I sit down and relax. I need to keep going over my vows in my head or I'm going to forget. The last thing I want is to embarrass myself by stumbling over my speech at my wedding," I say, patting the boy on the back. "We leave here at 1pm, kids."

"If anyone wants their hair done then come to my room when you finish eating," Maryanne announces. "I'm going to get ready now."

"Are you wearing a dress?" Kyle asks, curiously. Maryanne's cheeks turn a light shade of pink when she nods. She quickly turns on her heel and walks out of the room. "I've never seen her in a dress," Kyle mutters to himself.

"I think you'll like her no matter what she wears," I tease, ruffling his hair.

He blushes and carries on eating his pancakes.

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><p>"Percy, really? You are going to wear a suit to the beach?" Annabeth asks, looking at me like I'm crazy.<p>

"What? I want to look smart," I reply, grinning, as she looks me up and down. I'm wearing a black suit with a silver tie that matches her eyes. I have combed my hair back so it doesn't look as messy as it usually does.

"You are going to ruin the nice outfit on the beach," she insists and I roll my eyes.

"Just go with it, will you?" I sigh and she frowns, suspiciously.

"Fine," she finally agrees before walking over to the car and getting into the passenger seat.

I breathe a sigh of relief and lock the door to the care home before jumping into the large van. I would've liked Annabeth to arrive at her wedding in style but I don't want her to be more suspicious than she already is.

"I like your dress, Mary," Annabeth comments as we drive off.

"Thanks. I felt like a change today," the girl replies, easily. She would be a great actress.

"In fact all of you look great. It looks like we are going to a party not a beach. Did this Seaweed Brain ask you to dress up, too?" she asks, playfully.

"Oh, come on. When was the last time you saw me in a suit, Wise Girl? I just want to look nice and smart for a change and I asked the others to do the same. Don't you think I look cute?" I smirk, glancing at her quickly before focusing on the road.

"If you say so," Annabeth says and the kids in the back chuckle.

"Daddy, did you remember the flowers for mommy?" Ocean calls from one of the seats behind us. Oh no…

"What flowers?" Annabeth asks.

"I –uh…" I trail off.

"We all wanted to show our thanks for being such a great person to us," Liam says.

"Aww, that's sweet. Thank you," Annabeth grins.

I look in the rear-view mirror at Liam and mouth 'thank you'. He nods and smiles at me.

We turn into the road that leads to the beach car park and I bite my lip, nervously, trying to remember my speech. "Isn't that Thalia's car?" Annabeth asks, pointing to a purple Ford parked in a space.

"Yeah. I asked everyone to come so we could all have a big day on the beach," I reply.

"You are full of surprises today," Annabeth comments as I park the van.

"You just wait," I grin and kiss her cheek before everyone jumps out of the van.

I glance at Riley and nod. He nods back and starts getting everyone in line while Annabeth picks up Tommy from his car seat in the van.

"Everyone ready?" I call when the car is locked and everyone is in line. Annabeth doesn't seem to even notice the order everyone is standing in. She puts Tommy on the ground and holds one of his hands as we start down the path that leads to the steps that end in the sand.

I go to Ocean and whisper, "Go hold your mommy's hand for me, okay? Make sure she's behind us all so everyone can get in place on the beach."

"Okay, Daddy," she whispers and runs over to Annabeth.

"Last one on the beach is a rotten egg!" I yell and run down the steps as fast as possible. The kids all chase after me, remembering what we had practised the night before when Annabeth had been putting Tommy to bed.

The white chairs on the sand come in view along with the archway that is decorated with flowers. All of our friends are sitting in the back row of seats while the priest stands near the arch, waiting to marry Annabeth and I.

"How's it going, Perce?" Grover asks as I reach the aisle that leads to the arch.

"It's going smoothly so far. Ocean nearly got us caught but I think we are fine," I say and turn to the other kids that have caught up to me. "Sit in the front. Maryanne, you know when to give Annabeth the rings, right?" I ask. She nods. "Great. Please, don't drop them."

She rolls her eyes at me and sits in place along with the others. I go shake hands with the priest and then turn to look at the top of the steps as Annabeth, Tommy and Ocean comes into view.

I watch Annabeth's reaction as she takes in the site in front of her. Her eyes widen and then snap in my direction. She stares at me and then at the rows of people. I notice Ocean tug on her hand to get her attention and a grin spreads across my fiancés face.

She picks Tommy up and, while still holding Ocean's hand, starts quickly walking down the steps. When they are in the sand she puts Tommy down and Ocean takes his hand before stepping away from them and walking towards us. I'm surprised she's remembered so much.

Annabeth slowly walks behind our children and stops at the start of the aisle while Ocean skips along the path with Tommy. "Go stand by there, sweetie," I whisper to Ocean, pointing to a free chair in the first row. She takes a seat next to Cassidy and the girl lifts a fussing Tommy onto her lap.

I turn back to Annabeth and find that she's already started walking down the aisle. There isn't any music. The only sound that can be heard is the waves coming from behind me. Annabeth's eyes are shining and the smile on her face is the biggest I've ever seen it.

She reaches my side and presses her lips to mine. The priest clears his throat before saying, teasingly, "You are meant to do that at the end."

Annabeth laughs and pulls away. "I think I'm dreaming," she whispers as the priest starts his speech.

"You're not. I've been planning this for a while. You've nearly caught us out hundreds of times," I say, quietly, holding her hand. "Who's the Seaweed Brain now, huh?" She rolls her eyes and concentrates on what the priest is saying. We repeat his words and then we say our vows.

I go first: "You know, I've been practising this for nearly a year and I've still forgotten what I planned on saying." I hear everyone laugh but it sounds like it's in the background. All I can see is Annabeth. "First, I want to promise that I'm going to stay with you forever. I am never going to let you go so you're going to have to put up with me for another fifty years at least. I love you so much and I promise to love you until… well, until I'm buried in the ground.

"A lot of things have happened in our lives. We've made a lot of mistakes but one thing I'll never regret is running away with you because if I had never thought of that stupid idea then we wouldn't be here now."

I catch a tear as it slides down Annabeth's cheek and then I turn to Maryanne. She hands me a simple silver band and I slide it onto Annabeth's finger.

"I really want to say something as sweet and special as that but right now I can barely form any words," Annabeth says, barely above a whisper. "I want you to know that I love you too, with all my heart. When my parents died I didn't want to be alive, I didn't think I deserved to be alive. I gave up hope. I didn't talk to anyone. I was alive but lifeless. And then came along you, Percy Jackson. I don't know how but you brought me back to life and I'm going to spend the rest of my life thanking you for that."

She places the silver band on my finger after taking it from Maryanne. I don't even wait for the priest to say anything next. I pull Annabeth to me and kiss my bride until we have to come up for air.

Years ago I thought the best day of my life was when Annabeth and I ran away. Then I thought it was when she told me she was pregnant. Then I changed it to the day Ocean was born. And then again I changed it to the day our Tommy was born. And a year ago I changed it to the day we opened the care home. And now I've changed my mind again.

Because today, from now forward, will be the best day of my life forever…

The End

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><p><strong>And there we have it! I'm sorry if there are any spellinggrammar mistakes. I didn't want to have you wait even longer. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I want to thank everyone who has ever reviewed, favourited and followed this story. You have both given me ideas for this story and gave me the push to carry on.**


	25. AN

**This is just a quick author's note letting you all know that I am currently going through all of my stories and editing them. Any of my M rated stories will be edited so that they are suitable for the T rated section.**

**Also, I do hope to upload more stories in the future, but this year is my last in high school, so most of my time is spent preparing for exams and I don't want to start something and upload it immediately because it will mean that updates will be few and over a long period of time, which is not fair to my readers.**

**Thank you for reading!**


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